Albert Henry Miller ( Al - VE7KC)
January 17, 1916 – October 1, 2012
My father made his transition to Spirit early Monday morning. His wish was to be in his home until the end and thankfully, we were able to fulfill that wish for him. Someone recently said to me that caring for and assisting the dying, is sacred work and I've come to know the truth in this. It's one of the hardest and yet most beautiful things I've ever done.
It felt sacred...difficult yes, but beautifully sacred.
Albert Miller, was born on a cold January day in 1916, in a place that doesn’t exist anymore…culturally and historically. Fruitland, Ontario (Canada) was amalgamated into the larger city of Hamilton and the world that existed at that time…the Edwardian era…is now the stuff of storybooks and movies. (think long dresses, big hats and Downton Abbey)
Al at about 3 years old...all dressed up for a formal portrait and looking "not impressed"
In 1916, the first world war was being fought on the Somme and although the Model T Ford had been in production for 10 years, the Model A wouldn’t appear for another ten. Rasputin "the mad monk" was murdered in Russia that year and liquid nail polish had just arrived on the fashion scene in America.
Al’s mother Joyce, came to Canada from London, England in 1913. She was sent to Canada by her mother, to begin a new life after having an out-of-wedlock child (thank goodness the world has changed since then)…a daughter named Glory. His grandmother followed several months later with the baby, who was immediately put up for adoption in Canada. My dad was an only child and he never met his half-sister, his only sibling, although he searched for her for many years. The orphanage that she was placed in, burned in a fire and all records were destroyed.
Joyce married Henry Miller in 1915, a pioneer farmer and immigrant from London, and a year later Albert was born.
Joyce and William Miller, married in Stoney Creek, Ontario in 1915
My father and his family moved from Ontario to BC when he was ten. They crossed Canada by train in 1926 to the Pacific and settled near Victoria, but within a year they had lost both their farm and their dreams. They hadn’t noticed the fine print in the purchase agreement and a planned income from cutting and milling the trees, was not allowed. They left Victoria and moved to Vancouver where his father worked on the contruction of the new Lion’s Gate Bridge…Vancouver’s answer to San Francisco's iconic Golden Gate.
Al (about 13 years old) with his mother
Life was difficult in the depression years of the 1930’s but he found a passion in the newly developing technology of radio. He received his amateur radio licence (VE7KC) at the age of 17 and went on in this career, focusing for the most part in the area of aviation, until he retired at fifty five. He worked for 37 years and was retired for 39 years, often joking that the government was losing money on him as he had out-lived the odds for pension payouts.
Al recieved his amateur radio liscense at 17
My father met my mother Margaret in a Vancouver department store during the depression…she, working at the lunch counter and he, repairing radio’s…humble jobs, but jobs none-the-less, in an era where they were often non-existent. They bought a small home, had two children...my brother Glenn and I...and lived a full life.
Al and Margaret, 1940
They lived for several years in the tiny Doukhobor village of Crescent Valley in the Kooteney region of BC, moved to Vancouver, then to Sidney on Vancouver Island (where he and Margaret built a 24 ft. cabin cruiser by themselves), back to Vancouver and finally to Penticton in the interior of BC. They fell in love with this area, put down roots and lived there for the rest of their lives.
Margaret, Al, Kate and Glenn, around 1949
Their love and enjoyment of life gathered many friends around them. They both worked hard but were never too busy to welcome both friends and strangers into their home. As a "Ham" Radio Operator, Al had many friends scattered all over the world; he travelled to visit many of them and they in turn, came from all over to meet him.
When personal computers were becoming commonly available in the 1980’s, he won an Atari computer in a raffle and began to learn all about that too. He even taught a “introduction to computers for seniors” course, right up until he was 95.
Al, Meghan and Kate, Shanghai
Dad had an immense curiosity about the world and loved to travel; Australia, New Zealand, Europe and the UK. He lived and worked in the Canadian Arctic and when he was 86 he travelled to China to visit his grandaughter Meghan and grandson Robin, with Bob and I. He and Margaret travelled extensively in the US and Mexico in their RV after retirement. At 92 he joined the family in Mexico for a final winter vacation.
He was 88 years old when he lost Margaret, the love of his life. He was devastated at the loss but pushed on and as difficult as it was to watch his friends all leaving, he determinedly continued on making new friends.
Margaret and Al, 2004
There’s so much more to Al’s life…I’ve only skimmed the surface here...he was a radio operator on the William J. Stewart, a Hydrographic Survey Ship, he installed the first Instrument Landing System (ILS) for aircraft in British Columbia, he managed the operation and maintance of directional aircraft equipment in the eastern arctic while living in Iqualuet on Baffin Island and he worked in the solitude and isolation of Contwoyto Lake, NWT for Pacific Western Airlines, monitoring and maintaining similar systems. Both of these places are located high in the Canadian arctic.
During WW2 his job as a radio operator was considered an essential service and he was forbidden by the government to leave and join the armed forces. When he threatened to move to the US and join up there he was told that if he did that, he would be pulled out and sent to the Arctic for the rest of the war. He eventually did go to live and work in the arctic but by then it was his choice and on his own terms!
Al in 2003 recieving an award for "Ham" of the year
He gave much of himself in his community...he volunteered for the Penticton Ironman for 39 of it's 40 years, missing only this last year because of illness. If a friend or family member needed help, he was quietly there, asking what he could do.
Al was dependable and could always be counted on. He was persistent and determined. He was enthusiastic. And he was kind.
Our family in 2004...taken on Dad's deck, overlooking the Okanagan Valley
He was both interesting and interested. Dad absolutely loved to listen to people’s stories and he adamantly believed that everyone has an interesting story to tell, even if they don’t realize it. He mined people for their stories...always asking questions and fascinated by their tales!
Dad passed that on to me. He taught me to value everyone’s stories...that each and every person has something worth listening to, something of value to pass on. It’s an important legacy and one that I’m grateful for.
He passed on his love of life and, I’m hoping…really hoping…that he also passed on his great longevity genes as well!
July, 2012
96 years of life
Goodbye Dad…I love being your daughter.
(Al struggled with Myeloma...a blood cancer...for the past year, but never complained...it just slowed him down a little. Blood transfusions were able to keep him going for awhile, but eventually it was all too much for his body. Happily, almost all of his family were able to see him before he passed.)
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