Theodore Bert Miller

submitted by: Laynie Gardiner

The ancestor I chose to write about is Theodore Bert Miller. He is my second great-grandfather. He was born on April 7, 1915, in Fostoria, Iowa. He died on August 31, 1992. He was raised during the Great Depression with a family of 12. He worked on a farm in Fostoria, Iowa with his family. He was the middle child of 10 kids. That was how big his family was.

Being raised during the Great Depression was a big challenge, especially with 10 siblings. That’s why when Theodore got older he had a fear of having more than 1 kid. That's why he decided to have only one kid. That one kid was my Great Grandma Elkins. I have never met him since he died before I was born, but my Great Grandma Elkins has met him because she’s his daughter. She told me all about him. He overcame his challenge, being raised during the Great Depression, by becoming smart with money. Being raised during the Great Depression was hard, but he made it through.

Theodore was raised during the Great Depression, which made him smart with money. Something interesting about him is he had four jobs. One of his four jobs was that he was a Milkman. He brought glass bottles of milk to people's houses. His second job was working at the Dodgers Stadium passing out beer and peanuts. Some kids in my grade are Dodger fans. Another one of his jobs was owning apt. buildings. He bought the apartments using only his milkman salary. The last one of his jobs was a mechanic at his own shop, Miller’s Motor Service, in Fostoria, Iowa. He had a wife named Viva Rhea. His wife was a twin. Her twin's name was Vera Glea. That's a few things I thought were interesting about him.

Theodore also loved to cook, play cards, and dance! His favorite thing to do was go fishing in Mexico with his daughter (Great Grandma Elkins). When his daughter started having children, he got older. My Grandma Shelley didn’t remember much about him, but Great Grandma Elkins did. She told me that he made the best pork tenderloins ever! My stepdad also makes really good tenderloins! That's some things that he really liked to do!

Theodore Bert Miller was very interesting to learn about. My Great Grandma Elkins and Grandma Shelley helped me learn about him. I thought he was interesting and I hope you did too! He went through a lot of challenges in his lifetime and still overcame them! That’s just a few reasons why I thought he was cool!