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Obituary
Memory Lane Cemetery, Caddo County, Oklahoma
Submitted by:
Sandi Carter
© The Chickasha Express-Star Tuesday, 15 May 2007 Larry Duane "Moose" Miller Larry Duane "Moose" Miller was born November 29, 1950, in Roosevelt, Oklahoma to Mary Ellen [Allard] and George Walter Hampton. He passed from this life suddenly May 12, 2007, in Chickasha, at the age of 56. Larry grew up in Cyril and graduated from high school there in 1968. He attended the Caddo-Kiowa Vo Tech, and was the first Auto Mechanics student. Upon completion of his program, he went to work at Dicky Kidd Ford in Anadarko, At the time of his death he was a Lake Ranger at Chickasha Lake. He and the former Sheri Monroe Downs were married on May 26th, 2000, in Anadarko. His hobbies were making "Moose Videos", boat racing, drag racing, fishing and camping. He was a "fixit man" and he loved cooking for family get-togethers. He was a member of several boa racing associations. Preceding him in death were his step-dad, Bob Jones, his mother, Mary Ellen Jones, and an infant daughter, Misty Dawn Miller. Survivors include his wife Sheri of the Lake Chickasha home; his father, Walter Hampton of Mountain Park; daughters, Candie Jackson and husband Glen of Fletcher; Brandy Miller of Dallas; Amy Wood and husband Rick of Fletcher; two step-sons, Shane Downes and wife Jennifer, and Shon Downes, all of Verden; two granddaughters, McKala Wood of Fletcher; and Terra Downes of Verden; two grandsons, Sheldon Downes of the home; and Matthew Miller of Dallas; two brothers, Wayne Miller and wife Laurella of Oregon; and Terry Jones of El Reno; one sister, Roberta Haggard and husband Billy of El Reno; his mother and father-in-law, Donice and Olen Monroe of Chickasha; two brothers-in-law, Opie Monroe and Johnny Monroe and wife Liz, all of Norman; two sisters-in-law, Nancy Griffith and husband Kris of Chickasha; and Ann Roark and husband Kevin of Anadarko; numerous nieces, nephews, other family members and many friends. Graveside service will be held Thursday, May 17, 2007 at 10:00 A.M. at Memory Lane Cemetery. Viewing will be until 9:00 P.M. Tuesday, and from 9:00 A.M. until 9:00 P.M. Wednesday at Steverson Funeral Home. The family will be at the Funeral Home Wednesday from 6:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. to greet friends and other family members. Condolences may be sent to the family via e-mail to steversonfuneralhome@netride.net |
Tribute
Larry Duane "Moose" Miller
Submitted by:
Sheri Miller
By: E. A. Monroe Saturday, May 19, 2007  One of the boat racing images from MooseVideos.net. The funeral procession rolled down the streets of Anadarko toward the cemetery like a parade - a line up of white trucks emblazoned with the City of Chickasha's seal, the city workers in their blue and maroon striped shirts and their name patches sewn on the pockets, sit behind the steering wheels of their vehicles, uniformed county sheriffs drive their squad cars, and one lone pickup truck pulling one lone race boat decked with flowers and garlands followed the black limos that shepherded the family to the graveside services. "J" and I stood a little away from the dark green tent where the family crowded around Larry's wife Sherri. Beneath the awning, shadows stirred among the living as the family members shifted uncomfortably and sniffed and dried their eyes. A funeral dirge played softly - the Moody Blues' Nights in White Satin. The scene captured beneath the awning was surreal - a view screen into which I gazed and watched. The preacher man cleared his throat and delivered his eulogy. I'm thinking he can thump me with hell fire and brimstone until kingdom come, but I've been bible thumped by the best of the Southern Baptists, German Baptists, Jehovah's Witness, and Pentecostals' eloquent sermonizers who pave the road to hell with misdemeanors meant to rip life from the living of it, the experiencing and growth of it. I'm still recovering from many such batterings of my spirit. But, this preacher man's different. He's young and he speaks of love, joy and the celebration of life while everyone sniffles into Kleenex and handkerchiefs and nods their heads. Outside the awning, where J and I stand among the huge crowd gathered on that Thursday morning, the warmth of the sun shines upon my back and all around birds twitter and sing. A south breeze ruffles through my hair and twists curls around my face. I let my tears roll down my cheeks and when I bowed my head in prayer, I stare at the small wet splotches darkening the linen fabric of my tan shirt. I gazed among the shadows and the living gathered beneath the awning where the preacher man reads poems written by Larry's youngest brother who was starting first grade during Larry's senior year, Larry's older sister, and Sherri, and I'm thinking - Larry isn't there - he's wrapped in sunshine, bird song and wind. He's everywhere and life flows on. Tuesday, May 15, 2007 Butterflies are free...  Our junior class homecoming float. The Flintstones won first place that year. Donna (another Teenage Troll Girl) is Wilma and Larry Miller is Yabba-Dabba Do! Fred Flintstone. Saturday morning, Larry Miller, or Moose as his family and best friends call him, awakened. He lives with his wife in a house beside a lake located in a rural area, although the lake was not all that distant from several small towns and one medium sized college town. He's the Lake Ranger. Larry spends the day calling his closest friends, visiting, talking guy stuff and chatting about his plans for the upcoming boat-racing season. He's a filmmaker who has a passion for filming boat and drag races around the state, and he's also raced for the office of county commissioner a few times - to give the good ole boys a run for their political dollars. After all, one of his favorite movies and songs is Alice's Restaurant. After Larry calls all his best friends, wishes them well, and spreads humor and cheer among them, he drives off in his golf cart to visit the neighbors who live around the lake. He spends Saturday afternoon and the evening with his wife riding about in their golf cart chatting, visiting, laughing, talking about this and that - nothing special - the every day stuff of life that neighbors and friends share. On the ride home later that evening, he tells his wife how much he loves her. He tells his wife how much joy she gives him. He tells his wife that today is the happiest day of his life. At 11:00 p.m. Saturday night, May 12, 2007, as he drove into their yard, Larry "Moose" Miller had a heart attack. He passed away in his beloved wife's arms. Larry was 56 years old and married to my husband's younger sister, Sherri. He was a husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle; loved by many and missed by all. Make today the happiest day of your life. Who said it is easy? That's the challenge. Be compassionate, be generous, be kind, be caring, be respectful, and most of all, be giving.  Happiness is as a butterfly, which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. - Nathaniel Hawthorne There is a wonderful mythical law of nature that the three things we crave most in life - happiness, freedom, and peace of mind - are always attained by giving them to someone else. - Peyton Conway March People spend a lifetime searching for happiness; looking for peace. They chase idle dreams, addictions, religions, even other people, hoping to fill the emptiness that plagues them. The irony is the only place they ever needed to search was within. - Ramona L. Anderson [Ethics for a New Millennium, by His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama] - Consider the following. We humans are social beings. We come into the world as the result of others' actions. We survive here in dependence on others. Whether we like it or not, there is hardly a moment of our lives when we do not benefit from others' activities. For this reason it is hardly surprising that most of our happiness arises in the context of our relationships with others. Nor is it so remarkable that our greatest joy should come when we are motivated by concern for others. But that is not all. We find that not only do altruistic actions bring about happiness but they also lessen our experience of suffering. Here I am not suggesting that the individual whose actions are motivated by the wish to bring others' happiness necessarily meets with less misfortune than the one who does not. Sickness, old age, mishaps of one sort or another are the same for us all. But the sufferings which undermine our internal peace - anxiety, doubt, disappointment - these things are definitely less. In our concern for others, we worry less about ourselves. When we worry less about ourselves an experience of our own suffering is less intense. What does this tell us? Firstly, because our every action has a universal dimension, a potential impact on others' happiness, ethics are necessary as a means to ensure that we do not harm others. Secondly, it tells us that genuine happiness consists in those spiritual qualities of love, compassion, patience, tolerance and forgiveness and so on. For it is these which provide both for our happiness and others' happiness. |
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