John Raymond Miller, 85, of Chatfield died, surrounded by his family, on Monday, November 17, 2025, at Mayo Clinic Hospital, St. Marys Campus.
John was born August 24, 1940, in Rochester, Minn., to Allen and Ethelyn (Marsh) Miller. He graduated from Rochester High School in 1958. While in high school, on October 26, 1956, he married Kay Grubb at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa. They lived in Rochester until 1974 when they moved to “the farm” near Chatfield.
John worked many jobs before beginning his career as a carpenter in 1966. He was a member of the Carpenters Local 1382 Union. He began his career working for home builder Rueben Wolfgram and worked for many companies over the years, including Weis Builders and Benike Construction in Rochester. John retired in 2001 from Fluor Daniel working at IBM. In addition, he taught building trades at the high school level in Preston and Chaska. He was the senior instructor of the Rochester Carpentry Joint Apprenticeship program from 1975 to 1990.
John loved animals, bird watching, teaching, traveling, going to the casino and mostly, spending time with family. John and Kay raised three daughters and he told many people, “They were fun at every age.” Later he enjoyed watching his grandchildren in sporting events and other activities while meeting their friends and families. He quickly became “Pops” to all of his grandchildren and their friends. In recent years, John got a lot of joy from watching his great-grandchildren play and learn.
John is survived by his wife of 69 years, Kay; his three daughters: Kim Bacon (Terry) of Lake City, Sheri Crowson (Troy) of Dover, and Sam Clemens (John) of Chatfield; eight grandchildren; TW Bacon (Marci), John Bacon (Brenda), Matt Bacon (Megan), Kael Bacon (Liz), Bryan Crowson (Ashley), Taryn Tangen (Garrett), Nichole Clemens (Dale Stafford), Adam Clemens (Anna Cusick); 13 great-grandchildren, two sisters, Marilyn Books and Lisa Miller; brother Jerry Miller, brother-in-law Kerby Grubb (Sandy), sister-in-law Holly Grubb; and many nieces and nephews.
John was preceded in death by his parents, sister Ruth Maxon, sister Judy Newell, brother Bruce Miller, sister-in-law Rita Priebe, and brother-in-law George Grubb.
The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday, November 24, 2025, at Chatfield Lutheran Church in Chatfield. Visitation will be held from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, November 23, 2025, in the River Park Chapel at Macken Funeral Home and one hour prior to the service at the church.
Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com.
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