The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

A funeral mass for Roger B. Miller, 71, of Sioux City, Iowa, formerly of Ewing, will be at 10:30 a.m., Friday, Feb. 16, at St. Peter's Catholic Church in Ewing. Burial will be at 1:30 p.m., at the O'Neill Cemetery in O'Neill. Rev. Joseph Sund will officiate. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 15, at Biglin's Mortuary in O'Neill, with a parish rosary at 7 p.m.

Roger died Friday, Feb. 9, 2024, following a brief illness.

Arrangements are under the direction of Biglin's Mortuary in O'Neill.

~~~~~

Roger was born at St. Anthony's Hospital in O'Neill, to John and Marguerite Miller, on Aug. 17, 1952. He attended catechism, K-12 at St. Peter de Alcantara Catholic Church in Ewing and attended Ewing Public School, K-12, graduating in 1970. His early childhood was spent on the family farm just east of Ewing until age 10, when the family moved into Ewing. While growing up in Ewing, he had a milk route, delivering milk early in the morning to his customers. He did carpentry work, worked in his mom's cafe and at his dad's service station. After high school, he went to work for the Safeway Food Store in O'Neill, later transferring with Safeway to a store in Sioux City.

Following Safeway's exit from the Midwest, Roger went to work for Thorp Electric until 1996, at that time he went to work for Malloy Electric until retiring in 2021. Roger enjoyed his years as a machinist and working on the preventive maintenance side doing vibration analysis and balancing large industrial fans. He was a highly-regarded employee and his ability to balance large fans with minimal start-ups was something that he was always proud of.

Roger met the love of his life, Mary Ellen Heriford, in O'Neill. They were married at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in O'Neill, on June 2, 1973, and celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 2023. They were blessed with two sons, John and Bennett. Roger worked hard to provide for his family. He was a devoted husband, father, grandfather (most likely his favorite title) and caregiver to Mary Ellen until her multiple sclerosis progression led her to be moved to Sunrise Retirement in Sioux City, in 2021, where she currently resides.

Roger never gave up on his faith, and after his aortic dissection and heart-valve replacement in 2003, he always felt like he was given a second lease on life and he wanted to make the most of it. Although he enjoyed his grandkids the most, he didn't mind a night at the Hard Rock, a good card game (many, many games!) with family and camping trips.

Roger is survived by his wife of 50 years, Mary Ellen Miller of Sioux City; two sons, John (Peggy) Miller of Sioux City and Bennett (Christy) Miller of Hinton, Iowa; two grandchildren, Lilli and Liam; brother, Dale Miller of Papillion; four sisters, Charlene Hobelman, Victoria (Terry) Keck, Mary (Fred) Butts and Ruth Push, all of Lincoln; sister-in-law, Deborah Miller of Norfolk; two aunts, Beulah Hofacker of Neligh and Maxine Miller of Omaha; many nieces, nephews, relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents, John and Marguerite (Calkins) Miller, his brother, Jerome (Jerry) Miller, and his brother-in-law, Lance Hobelman.