Leola A. Miller - Brookings

Dec. 16, 1923 – March 6, 2018

Posted

Leola A. Miller, 94,  longtime Castlewood resident, died Tuesday, March 6, 2018, at United Living Community in Brookings after a brief battle with cancer. 

Funeral services are at 2 p.m. Friday  at American Lutheran Church in Castlewood. Burial is at Castlewood Cemetery.  Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday at American Lutheran Church, Castlewood.  Rude’s Funeral Home is assisting the family with the arrangements.

Leola A. Meyer was born Dec. 16, 1923, at Watertown to John and Mabel Meyer.

She attended grade school and high school at Castlewood, and as a girl began working as a switchboard operator for the local telephone company.  She was one of two surviving members of the Castlewood High School class of 1941.

She married Carl M. Miller, Jr., on April 5, 1942.  While Carl was stationed with the U.S. Coast Guard at San Pedro, California, Leola lived in Southern California, working as a telephone switchboard operator. When Carl went overseas, she returned to Castlewood and served as a nurse’s aide at the Estelline hospital.

After the war, the couple moved to the Seattle area and in 1947 moved back to Castlewood, where Carl began farming with his father.

Leola raised three sons, all of whom graduated from Castlewood High School.

In 1964, she began working for the Postal Service at Castlewood where she worked until 1984.

Also, in the late 1980s, they moved to Lake Poinsett where they lived until Carl’s death in 2008. Shortly after, Leola moved back to Castlewood where she lived until ill health prompted her to move to Brookings in January of this year.

She was a member of the American Lutheran Church in Castlewood.

She is survived by three sons, Jeff Miller of Brookings, Greg Miller of Lake Poinsett and Steve (Donna) Miller of Rapid City; four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Carl Jr; her stepfather, Jim Strain; two brothers, Kenneth and Eldred Meyer; and a half-sister, Evelyn Street.

Condolences may be sent to the family through www.rudesfuneralhome.com.