MILLER, Donald Busby (Don)

The Prescott Daily Courier, Prescott, Arizona Sunday, June 3, 2006 Don Miller quietly passed away Tuesday evening, May 30, 2006, after a short illness. He had been a resident at Las Fuentes in Prescott for the past six years, where he greatly enjoyed his old friends, his many new acquaintances, and the staff. He was 91. Don was born Donald Busby Miller on Oct. 1, 1914, in Seminole, Oklahoma, son of Joseph J. Miller of Mount Ida, Arkansas, and Geraldine Busby Miller of Chicago, Illinois. His formative years were spent in Chickasha, Okla., where his father was professor of mathematics at Oklahoma College for Women and a reserve officer in the United States Army. His mother was active in local organizations and a delegate for the Oklahoma Democratic party. Don was a good student, an Eagle Scout, a musician and an All-American high school tennis player. He received an appointment to United States Military Academy, West Pont, where he graduated in 1939. In 1940 he married Maurine Friedrich of San Antonio, Texas, and they lived happily together for 62 years. Maurine, "Rene" to Don and their friends, passed away in 2003. As a young Army officer, Don progressed through the ranks rapidly and was assigned to the European theater in 1945 as a tank destroyer battalion commander. He was engaged in combat and received a Bronze Star for his actions. Don was a career Army officer, and his assignments included the Berlin Airlift in 1948, the Army War College in Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, commander of the famous "Rock of the Marne" 38th Infantry Regiment stationed in Fort Lewis, Washington, service in Korea, the Joint Chiefs of Staff in Washington, D.C., and Defense Attache to the American Embassy in Tokyo. He retired from the army in 1968, after which he returned to school to receive a master's degree in history from St. Mary's University in San Antonio. In 1969 Don and Maurine moved to Prescott, Arizona, where they built a home and entertained their friends often and enthusiastically. Don loved music, jazz especially, and had a natural athletic grace that showed well on the dance floor as well as at the golf course, a place dear to his heart. He taught history and government at Yavapai Community College in the '70s and '80s and was responsible for starting the Retirement College. Don leaves his three children, Mike of Key West, Florida; Pat of Redding, California; and Janet of Cottonwood, Arizona. A history scholarship in Don's name, the Donald B. Miller Scholarship Fund, is planned for Yavapai Community College. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made to the Yavapai Community College Foundation, 1100 E. Sheldon St., Prescott, Ariz., 86301. Private services will be in San Antonio at a later date. Information provided by survivors.