Norman Barry "Bud" Miller Obituary (1931 - 2021)

On February 28th we lost our sailor Norman Barry “Bud” Miller. Most of Norman’s friends and schoolmates knew him as Barry when he was growing up as a young man. His Uncle Harvey always called him Bud, and that is the name that stayed with him till the end. Bud was born October 26th 1931, in Murray, Utah to Elvera Collins and Norman W. Miller. He grew up in Murray Utah. He went to school and played varsity sports including baseball, football and track at Murray High School. After high school “Bud” joined the Navy to see the world. He actively served in the Navy during the Korean War. He served on two different destroyers during this time. The USS John W. Thomason and USS Lofberg. His ships were stationed in Japan. Bud shared many fond memories of his time in the Navy and while stationed in Japan. He talked fondly of playing on the Navy All Star baseball team as a second baseman. They played against many of the ship teams that put into port. Another enduring memory for him was hiking to the top of Mt. Fuji in Japan. He said there was nothing quite like seeing the sun rise on the top of Mt. Fuji. Later in life Bud made an extra special effort to meet up with his navy buddies, at their annual ship reunions. His buddies referred to themselves as the “Tin Can Sailors” When Bud returned from Korea, he met his future bride. Helen Pett. They were married in 1963 until his passing. Bud is survived by his wife Helen Miller, son Victor Miller (Sonya Swaner-Miller), daughter Marianne Slade (Andy Slade). Victor and Marianne added 9 grand children to the clan. (Andrew, Natalie, Liam, Victoria (Tori), Izabella (Bella), Parker, Sterling, Steven, and Stephanie. All the kids were near and dear to him. Bud was born with a twin sister, Beverly Carmen Miller. They were best friends growing up. They did everything together as kids and teenagers. They were very close until her last days. Beverly’s children, Mike, Julie and Scott Penrose, have always been close to their Uncle Bud. A special thanks to Julie for helping to take care of our family during Bud’s challenges with his health. Scott has been there, time and time again to help whenever he was needed. Mike, Bud enjoyed your phone calls every week to see how he was doing. Bud was a successful businessman. He started a company called Allwest Sales and Service. It was a hose and fittings business. He ran that business until he retired. He met many great friends across the country while running his business. He looked forward to seeing all his, “ hoser friends” every year at the NAHAD conventions and Goodyear trips. Bud and Helen traveled extensively. They had a goal to hit all 50 states in their lifetimes. They hit most all of them and several countries too. Bud always loved animals. He went through a long period of time when he did not have a pet. Back in the day, Bud used to say, “the best pets were the ones other people had and he could just visit”. That all changed when an Airedale Terrier named Chester moved in with him and Helen. It was supposed to be a temporary thing. But that dog and several others became lifelong companions. Bud always had walking buddies with his dogs. Chester, Lucky, Kidder, Buster, Beasley and Waffle. Bud use to grab Natalie and a couple dogs and walk them most everyday in Liberty Park. He would bribe Natalie with lunch or an ice cream to round out the day. Bud had a rough go the last several months. He was close to 90 years old and lot of his OEM equipment was finally starting to wear out. We thought that we were going to lose him in December 2020. He spent 21 days in the George Whalen VA Medical Center. He recovered enough to come home a few days before Christmas. We got him home to his home all decorated for the holidays, the fire burning in the fireplace, and all the wonderful smells of treats being baked for the holidays. He commented this was the best Christmas that he could remember in a long time. We cannot express enough thanks and gratitude to the folks on the Telemetry floor for bringing him back for us. His battle in December lead him to another challenge, multiple trips to dialysis every week. Some days were hard for him to get up and go for another treatment. There were many days he just did not seem to have the strength. Once he got there he usually perked up. The members of the dialysis staff at the VA were first rate. They all knew him by his first name and treated him with kindness, respect and the most professional of care. The staff at the SLC VA medical facility have truly been a blessing for Bud and the family. Bud has mentioned many times in the last several years how lucky we have been to have Andy Slade and his children as members of our family. Andy and Marianne have gone above and beyond to help Helen and Bud. They moved to their house to help take care of them. Andy was adamant that we are going to take care of Bud and Helen in their own house, and not put them into long term care. Andy, the support from your brothers and your mom, have been very much appreciated. Natalie, your spending time with gramps and gran, were always treasured by both of them. You were the first grandchild and the “apple of grandpa’s eye”. Thank you for being there for gran. Bud will be interred at the Camp Williams Veterans Cemetery in Bluffdale, Utah, on March the 12th at 12:00. A graveside service with military honors will be held. Friends and family are invited to share their respects if they wish. Due to covid times, if you come to the graveside service, please where a mask and observe safe social distancing. Funeral arrangements have been made with Jenkins-Soffe. In lieu of flowers, please consider taking the time to call the people that are important to you and tell them that you love them, and you were thinking of them today.