Kermit Eugene "Gene" Miller

Kermit Eugene “Gene” Miller, 85, passed away in his sleep on February 11, 2025 in Keller, Texas. 

Gene was born on June 25, 1939 to Herman Theodore and Bertie Secondine Miller in Claremore, Oklahoma. The second of three children, he was raised in Nowata and graduated from Nowata High School in 1957. He played center for the Ironmen football team and went on to play college football and major in business at Independence, Kansas and East Central University in Ada, Oklahoma before returning to the family concrete company. 

He married Nina Yvonne Love in 1960. Gene always looked forward to taking his family on weekend fishing and boating outings at the lake. They also treasured summer trips to the Rockies when their daughters were young, including several Yellowstone and Glacier National Park vacations. 

Gene loved being outdoors, an affinity he developed at an early age and carried throughout his life. He knew the area’s creeks, rivers, and woods as well as anyone in the county. An accomplished sportsman, he was most at home when fishing, hunting or simply being outside in the open air. In the 1980s, he earned a pilot’s license and took to the sky, flying over the water and woods he knew so well. 

He is survived by daughter and son-in-law Dana and Michael Sullivant, daughter and son-in-law Debbie and Rod Smith, and granddaughters Austen and Harper Smith all of Keller. He also leaves behind a sister, Phyllis Barrett of Renton, Washington, as well as several nieces and nephews. 

A service will be held at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, March 1, 2025 at the Benjamin Funeral Service Chapel in Nowata, Oklahoma, with Pastor Wendell Abbott officiating. Interment will follow at the Secondine Cemetery. 

The family would like to thank the staff of the Heritage House of Keller and Alpha Omega Hospice for their loving care