Wayne Miller Obit

Wayne secured his eternal future by an early acceptance of Christ as Savior. Ordination as deacon while a member of Tahlequah First Baptist in 1963 was followed by in service capacity at Tulsa Baptist Churches: Madison Avenue, Harvard Avenue and Crowell Heights until retirement that included a move back to an Adair County Farm Home.
Wayne joined the Marines after high school and upon completing his duty in the service, he returned home to Stilwell where he was employed for sometime as a bus driver and dozer operator.
He and Ernestine were married on October 16, 1952 and a move to Ulysses, Kansas where Stephen was born. In 1955 they moved to Tulsa, OK which in turn brought both employment at McDonald Douglas Aircraft and DeAnn's birth.
In the late 1950's, he began work at Clarence Worley's Sooner Plumbing Company when he soon moved to Tahlequah to open a branch shop. It was during this time, son Joe David was born. A return move to Tulsa in 1965 involved a wider scope of skills including projects at Tulsa Hospitals: Osteopathic, Hillcrest, St. Johns, and St. Francis. New construction at Children's Medical Center, Tulsa University, Oral Roberts University and a downtown high rise and the Claremore Indian Hospital filled many of his work years. His group had already installed much of the underground work on the controversial Black Fox nuclear project located near Inola before it was cancelled due to anti nuclear activist protest. He was later offered a supervisory position on the plumbing and mechanical work at the current W.W. Hastings hospital in Tahlequah but he was already committed to completing another project. Most of these work years involved membership in the local plumbers and pipefitters union which was an avenue for a good stable income.
His spiritual gift was a ministry of HELP though which he assisted small congregations with limited resources as they needed practical help such as installing Baptistries, heating units and the church parsonage. He was always on his local churches Building and Grounds Committee.
A great joy in his life was working with church youth. He first taught Jr High boys in a small church, and then served as Director of a rather large Senior High department at Harvard Avenue Baptist church for years followed by generalized youth work from the nursery to the high school youth at Crowell Heights. His home was always open to any youth. In the early 70's a purchase of some rural mountainous acreage reflected his lifetime love and interest in hunting and fishing lead to the building of a cabin for use by family and friends. His Stilwell grandchildren have spent every hunting season at the camp since year of birth. Many church youth groups over the years have enjoyed their time and use of the cabin.
While the more noticeable spiritual gifts are described in 1 Corinthians 12:27, 28 and are more frequently desired, the amplified versions use of the word helpers should bring contentment to those of us who use our gifts in serving the community of faith each in his own place.
Wayne was always faithful in his willingness to use his tools and skills wherever possible and needed.