Our father, brother, friend, son and uncle Jolly Miller died Jan. 6, 2023, up the Rendezvous Road in Winthrop, a place he truly loved, at age 82. He lived up to his name; Jolly was exactly what he was. He had a never-ending positive take on all the events in his life, which could also get him into trouble.
Jolly’s father, Earl Miller, was a non-conformist maverick, inventor, and thinker. With his wife, Marion, Earl left the city of Portland and the security family retail business to buy a ranch in eastern Oregon. After Marion died of leukemia, Earl remarried Ruby, who won over the hearts of Earl’s sons Hub, Jolly and Lee.
Growing up on the family ranch in Joseph, Oregon, Jolly fell for heavy equipment. He was an expert at operating excavators, dump trucks, and farm equipment. When he talked about equipment, he didn’t just drive a tractor; he drove “a John Deere tractor with a side rake.” When he excavated for Jason (his son) and Leslie’s home on the Rendezvous, backfilling the uphill side of the house proved to be a real humdinger. But he got through it without rolling the hoe through the living room.
After starting a landscape construction business in Seattle around 1979, Jolly discovered the wonders of a new material and process using gunite, a sprayed concrete. This allowed him to construct almost any form.
The Jolly Miller Landscape Construction Company quickly became one of the pioneers in the artificial exhibitory industry. It was a brand new field, and Jolly rapidly became one of the top names in the industry, forging techniques and applications that are still used today. His personality and never-ending positivity brought together a diverse group of talented artists who loved their boss. They could turn concrete into ancient sea beds and into giant trees.
For many years, Jolly’s company flourished, building award-winning zoo exhibits all over the country. He had projects in Seattle, Portland, the Bronx Zoo, Baltimore, Seward, the homes of Bill Gates and Gary Larson, and overseas in Dublin. Jason worked with him on many projects.
After Jolly retired to the Methow, he started working at the Bluebird Grain Farms for Sam and Brooke Lucy running his favorite tractor there, “Big Red.” As Sam noted, “With his broad, well-soiled straw hat, western shirts, big belt, and an even wider smile to match, Jolly showed up in many a Bluebird picture over the years, including a long-running ad we had in High Country News.”
Jolly started playing the harmonica as a boy on the ranch. Even though he was overshadowed by his wife, Dori, a professional opera singer, and composer brother Hub, Jolly was himself a talented harmonica player. And the three together made a great musical team. Jolly might call on your birthday and play happy birthday over the phone. He could even wrestle a decent tune from a tiny four-hole toy harmonica.
No family gathering would be complete without Jolly and his stories and his excellent memory for times, places and people, much of which was true. And then he would bring up the harmonica, Hub would jump on the piano, and Dori would fill the house with her beautiful voice.
Jolly was the greatest rock band father. As Jason found his musical passion with keyboards, Jolly and Dori remodeled their Latona basement in Seattle for a rehearsal space for Jason’s band. Though soundproofed for the neighbors, the upstairs still had a fair share of rock-rap music echoing through the structure, which they never complained about. Jolly would lend Jason his new black Suburban to cart musical equipment around. Jason always looked impressive next to the old beat-up vans of the other bands. And, of course, Jolly would frequently jump up and play with Jason’s bands.
Jolly was preceded in death by his mother Marion, his father Earl, his brother Hub, his wife of 38 years, Dorothy, brother-in-Richard, and his brother Lee.
Jolly is survived by his son Jason and wife, Leslie, his mother Ruby, his brother Peter and wife Lee, his brother Steven and wife Karen, his sister-in-law Theresa, his sister-in-law Megan and husband Peter, niece Christina, nephew Andrew, nephew Vince and his son Emmet.
We’ll miss his endless optimism, stories, and love of music and the world around him. He will live in our hearts forever. So long, Jolly!
