Mrs. Patricia (Pat) Miller

Patricia Miller Biography
Patricia (Pat) Miller was born in Hoopeston, Illinois on a cold January day. Pat’s father was a
farmer and her mother was a city gal living on the farm. Pat’s mom raised veggies, canned,
cooked, cleaned and cared for Pat and her brother, John.
Pat played the saxophone in her High School concert and marching bands. She said she liked
it despite it being so cold on some evening football game nights she thought her hands were
frozen.
Pat loved farm life and being involved with 4-H but eventually left the country life behind to
attend nursing school. Pat’s aunt, Alma, was a nurse. When Pat was a child she visited her
aunt in Nursing School on several occasions and loved seeing the white uniforms and how
professional all the nurses were.
While earning her RN Pat met her husband, Keith, at a school dance. They dated for several
years before getting married so they could both finish school and begin their careers. Pat went
on to be a nurse at a hospital and she worked mostly in surgery. Her husband worked with the
Air Force and traveled a lot. Pat had two children, Steve and Holly. She loved being a mother.
She was also a proud and devoted grandmother of four and a great grandmother of two thus
far.
Throughout her life Pat had enjoyed being involved with groups in the community. She has
been a member of 4-H, YWCA and numerous Bible Studies as her Christian faith was very
important to her. Pat’s husband passed away when he was 60 years old. She then decided to
travel to all 50 states in the U.S. She said she liked traveling but felt that Illinois was the best
state.
Although Pat loved Illinois she moved to Virginia to be near her daughter later in life. Her advice
to the younger generation was to choose an occupation that you really enjoy. Pat said that
even though she had lost a lot of her friends in her life and it could be difficult being older she
realized that she had a really good life and felt grateful every day!

Pat Miller Memorial Obituary

Patricia Ann Miller, age 91, residing at 10200 Colvin Run Road Great Falls, VA died peacefully in her sleep on Friday Feb 21, 2025 at Brightview Assisted Living Center. She was born January 18, 1934 in Hoopeston, Illinois, the daughter of Leroy and Margaret Unger. Patricia lived in Rockford, Il from 1965 to 2019 coming from Peoria, Illinois then moving to Great Falls, Virginia in 2019. She married Keith Miller in Watseka, Il, on June 9, 1956. She graduated from Watseka High School in 1952, from Methodist Nursing School in Peoria in 1955 and worked as a Registered Nurse at the Methodist Hospital in Peoria and Alma Nelson and River Bluff nursing homes in Rockford. She volunteered many years at First Assembly Church (Rockford First) as a Sunday School Teacher and heading up their funeral lunches.

Patricia is survived by her children Stephen (Jerilyn) Miller and one daughter Holly (Douglas) Traxler of Oakton, Virginia. She is also survived by her grandchildren Olivia (Chris) Brosig of Portland, Oregon, Daniel (Ryan) Traxler of Ashburn, Virginia, Jackson (Constance) Traxler of Rockville, Maryland, and Victoria Traxler of Missoula, Montana . Surviving great-grandchildren include Luka and Larkin (Olivia) Brosig of Portland, Oregon, and Murphy and Callum (Daniel) Traxler of Ashburn, Virginia.

She is predeceased by her husband Keith in 1988, her parents Margaret and Leroy Unger, and her brother John Unger.

A funeral Service will be held in Vienna, Virginia on Thursday, March 6 at 3 p.m. with a visitation starting at 2 p.m. at The Antioch Church on Beulah Rd.

A second service will be held in Rockford, Illinois on Monday March 10 at 1p.m. with a visitation beginning at 12:30 p.m. at the Fitzgerald Funeral Home.

A Burial service will be held after the Rockford service at the Scandinavian Cemetery on Rural St.

In lieu of flowers donations may be made to the American Macular Degeneration Foundation.