Dr. John David Miller, Sr., 83, of Tifton, died Friday, March 23, 2007, at Cypress Pond Assisted Living Center. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, March 26, 2007, in the Memorial Chapel of Tifton's First Baptist Church. Dr. Wayne Roe and Dr. W. Ches Smith, III will officiate with burial to be held on Wednesday, March 28, 2007, at 2:00 p.m. in Oak Ridge Cemetery. Members of the Frank Raley Sunday School Class of Tifton's First Baptist Church will serve as pallbearers and honorary pallbearers. The family will receive friends on Sunday, March 25, 2007, from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Bowen-Donaldson Home for Funerals.
Dr. Miller was born on August 9, 1923 in Todd, North Carolina and was the son of Reuben Patterson Miller and Chessie Victoria Graham Miller, both deceased. He was a retired agronomist with the Coastal Plains Experiment Station. He had B.S. and M.S. degrees from North Carolina State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. He worked with breeding of foliage crops with the USDA Agricultural Research Service Department of Agronomy. He was a member of Tifton's First Baptist Church; the American Legion; Toast Masters; the American Society of Agronomy; Phi Kappa Phi; Gamma Sigma Delta; Sigma Xi; the Lions Club; and the Frank Raley Sunday School Class of Tifton's First Baptist Church. He was a United States Army veteran of World War II, having served with the 102nd Infantry division from 1943-1946. He served in the Battle of the Bulge and was awarded the Bronze Star.
Dr. Miller is survived by his wife, Jimmie Heard Miller of Tifton; three sons, Glenn Miller of Sterling, Virginia; John David Miller, Jr. of Cherryville, North Carolina, and Donnie R. Poole of Douglasville; two daughters, Mary Urana of Fairfax, Virginia and Sandra P. Kunzman of Tucson, Arizona; three brothers, R. Z. "Zack" Miller of Montgomery, Alabama, Max Miller of Todd, North Carolina, and Henry Miller of Mount Airy, North Carolina; one sister, Alice Gilley of Hudson, North Carolina; five grandchildren; and two great grandchildren.