Miller, Earl R.

Earl R. Miller, 98, of Solon, died Sunday, June 26, 2011, at the Solon Nursing Care Center.

Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, June 30, 2011, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Solon, with burial at the Oakland Cemetery in Solon. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at the church concluding with a parish rosary at 7 p.m. The Reverends James Vrba and Christopher J. Miller (great-nephew) will officiate. Memorial donations can be made in Earl's memory to St. Mary's Church, Iowa City Hospice, or the Congregate Meals of Solon. Online condolences may be sent for his family through the web at .

Earl Raymond Miller was firstborn son to Raymond and Mae (Campion) Miller on June 9, 1913. He attended schools in Solon, graduating with the class of 1931 from high school. He lived his entire life in the Solon area, where farming was in his blood since birth. Earl was a man who cared for the land before conservation programs existed, before it was the thing to do. He believed in the stewardship of God's gifts to him. Those who knew Earl knew this very quiet, unassuming, gentle, generous, hardworking man. Many would remember his sharing of thousands of melons he raised with friends and sometimes total strangers over the years. He loved the outdoors, mother nature, God's creations, and of course fishing!

Earl was a lifetime member of St. Mary's Catholic Church in Solon and also a member of the Catholic Order of the Foresters.

His family includes nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews, great-great-nieces and nephews, and his sister-in-law, Loretta Miller of Solon.

Earl was preceded in death by his parents and brothers, John, Laurence and his wife, Mary, and Albert and his wife, Mary.