“1930 – 2013”
Waynesville— Dr. George I. Miller, age 83, passed away on May 29th, 2013, at his residence in Cary, NC.
George was born in Lake View, South Carolina, the son of the late Smith Miller and Blanch Turner Miller. His oldest brother, Carl, did not like the name “George” and started calling him “Jack,” the name that he was known by until he left Dillon to enlist in the US Army. “Jack” Miller had an amazing story. He quit school completely after the first two weeks of the fifth grade in order to work on the family farm while his older brothers were in the military serving during World War II. After being out of school for several years, he decided he wanted to go back to school so he could play football and baseball.
He attended Dillon High School in South Carolina and was a stand-out halfback football player and captain of both the football and baseball teams and won the South Carolina State Championship in the 100 and 220 yard dash events. Following high school, George served in the US Army and deployed to Korea for nineteen months. After returning from Korea, he attended Western Carolina University on a football scholarship. While at Western Carolina, he met and married the late Grace Davis Miller. After Western Carolina, George attended Emory Dental School in Atlanta, GA, graduating in 1960.
George and Grace relocated to Haywood County in North Carolina, and opened a dental practice in Clyde. In the following years they raised three children. George and Grace were active members of Clyde First Baptist Church, where George taught Sunday School and served as Chairman of the Board of Deacons, and later Waynesville First Baptist Church, where he also taught Sunday School and served as a member of the Board of Deacons. George was also active in the Clyde Masonic Lodge as a 32nd Degree Mason, serving in various roles including Master of the Lodge. He also served as President of the Haywood County Shrine Club, and volunteered numerous hours for Shrine Club charities such as the Shriners Hospital for Children in Greenville, South Carolina.
After practicing dentistry in Haywood County for almost thirty years, George and Grace relocated to Cary, North Carolina, where George joined his daughter, Dr. Lynn Miller Godwin’s dental practice. George and Grace returned to Haywood County in 2005 to celebrate their Fiftieth Wedding Anniversary. George retired from dentistry in 2009.
George is survived by his three children, Dr. Lynn Godwin, and her husband Bill, of Cary, George I. Miller, Jr., and his wife Cynthia, of Fuquay Varina, and Beth Fetvedt, and her husband Jeremy, of Raleigh and his nine grandchildren, George I. Miller, III, W. Davis Miller, Emily Miller, Martha Grace Miller, Eva Godwin, Will Godwin, David Robinson, Erika Grace Fetvedt, and Max Fetvedt. He is survived by his sister Emily Perritt of Conway, South Carolina. George was predeceased by his wife Grace in 2012, by his brothers, Carl, Neil, Bill, and Smith, and by his sisters Doris and Mary.
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 am on Saturday, June 8th, 2013, Clyde First Baptist Church, with Reverend Dr. Gary Hearon officiating. Burial will follow at Garrett-Hillcrest Memorial Park Mausoleum in Waynesville.
The family will receive friends Friday evening, June 7th, 2013 from 6:00 until 8:00 pm at Wells Funeral Home in Waynesville.
Memorials may be made to Broyhill Children’s Home, 111 Sneed Drive, Clyde, NC 28721 or to Lottie Moon Christmas Offering, P.O. Box 6767, Richmond, VA 23230.
An on-line memorial register is available at “Obituaries” at “www.wellsfuneralhome. com”
