Margaret Jeanette Miller December 12, 1924 - May 26, 2013

Margaret Jeanette Miller passed away peacefully on May 26th, 2013 at her home in Bakersfield, California. Born December 12, 1924, in Mesa Arizona, Jeanette was the third child of Willie Jeanette, and Charles Cordell Jarrett. She grew up in Mesa and Tempe, and attended Mesa Elementary school, graduating from Mesa Union High School in 1943, and going on to major in fashion design at UCLA. It was in Mesa where she met Ward Thompson Miller, a US Army Air Corps pilot, assigned to the Royal Air Force, as a flight instructor for British pilots at Falcon Field, Mesa AZ. Ward and Jeanette were married in Los Angeles, on June 5, 1946, where they built their first house in Altadena, and later moved their family to Flintridge, CA.

Jeanette was actively involved with the Order of the Eastern Star, PEO Chapter AH - Glendale, Huntington Hospital Guild in Pasadena, and the Assistance League. Following a serious accident to her husband, forcing him to sell his company, Jeanette returned to the work force to support her family. Obtaining her real estate license in 1971, she joined the firm of Stevenson-Dilbeck Realtors where she went on to a distinguished career in the La Canada – Flintridge area. Retiring from real estate in 1997, Jeanette relocated to Bakersfield to be near her grown children and grandchildren. In these later years, she enjoyed traveling, volunteering with the Assistance League of Bakersfield, being a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, and was a constant inspiration to her family.

Jeanette was preceded in death by her husband Ward T. Miller, her siblings, Myrtlebelle Dunlap of Long Beach, and Dr. Charles Cordell Jarrett of Seattle. She is survived by her son Ward T. Miller Jr. of Bakersfield, her daughter Catherine J. Gay, and son-in-law David Gay of Bakersfield; and grandchildren, Emily Marie Gay, Reed Madden, Shane Madden; and great grandchildren Nicholas, Elizabeth and Trinity Madden; plus special nieces and nephews living in Seattle, WA., and Mesa, AZ.

The family would like to thank all the ladies of Alternative Care (Bakersfield) for their years of service, especially Gillian and Carmin for their companionship, and loving care. To Hoffman Hospice, many thanks for their guidance and support of Jeanette and her family.

A memorial service, and interment, will be held Saturday June 8th, at Forest Lawn Memorial Park - Glendale CA., in the Wee Kirk O’ the Heather Chapel at 12:30 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations may be made, in Jeanette’s name, to the Assistance League of Bakersfield, P.O. Box 2286, Bakersfield, CA. 93303, or your charity of choice.

No words can express how much she will be missed.