Steve Miller
Steve Miller, 50, died peacefully Thursday, January 16, 2025, with his family by his side. He fought a sudden illness for nearly 10 weeks, but recovery was not meant to be. We believe he is now healthy and whole in paradise.
Steven Troy Miller was born in Ludington on January 6, 1975, to Victor and Lucila Miller. He was the perfect fifth birthday gift to his brother and only sibling, Eric. Over the years the Miller brothers would share not only their birthday celebrations, but also a loyalty to their family, a willingness to lend a helping hand to anyone in need, a love for the great outdoors, and many, many beers around a campfire listening to Country Gold Saturday Night.
Steve grew up in Carr Settlement, deeply proud of the Miller family roots there. He raised a lotta hell along with the neighborhood kids – particularly his best buddy, Scott LaPointe – and he loved to tell stories of riding bikes or three-wheelers to Carr Store and playing countless games of basketball at Carr Hall. He attended Mason County Central Schools. It was the summer after he graduated in 1993 that he started dating Jennifer Brooks. They married in Ludington on May 9, 1998, at Bethany Lutheran Church, and in the year 2000 they settled on the Miller family homestead in their new house with their first child, Sam, born in November 1998. In 2002 they welcomed their second child, Rachel, and their family was complete. Raising his children in Carr Settlement with his parents next door was one of Steve’s greatest joys. He shared his love for the outdoors with everyone he knew, in all seasons: hunting for deer, turkeys, and morel mushrooms, fishing, snowmobiling, downhill skiing, gardening, and golfing. He enjoyed watching NASCAR and University of Michigan Football, both on television and in person. He cherished the times spent with his family and friends at deer camp – the old Lake Township schoolhouse – and more recently, the quiet moments watching the sun rise from his fishing boat on Big Star Lake. He was an expert at delivering a perfectly-timed wisecrack, feeding a mess of people, and surprising his family with new projects, a number of which they have inherited.
Growing up, the LaPointes’ dairy farm was Steve’s second home. He worked (and played) there until he accepted a job from his future father-in-law as a pipeline laborer. Over the next 30 years Steve would work his way up through the ranks on the pipeline as a fuser, a welder’s helper, inspector, and finally construction manager. His job took him all over the United States resulting in friendships that endure amongst his pipeline family today. He worked long hours and at great distances from home, all to provide the best life possible for his family. While his presence was missed on some special occasions, he returned home as often as he was able to, and that in itself was cause for celebration.
In addition to his incredible work ethic, Steve set an example for his children by serving his community as a volunteer firefighter and medical first responder. He worked with the U.S. Forest Service and Michigan DNR on wildland fires, then became Firefighter I and II certified and was an active member of Carr Fire Department and Lake Township Fire Department. Jen, Sam and Rachel all became firefighters because of him.
Steve is survived by his wife of 26 years, Jennifer; their children and their significant others, Samuel (Bekah) and Rachel (Joel); his parents, Victor and Lucila Miller; his brother Victor Eric Miller and Sue Edginton; his father- and mother-in-law James and Virginia Brooks; brothers-in-law Jason (Kristin) Lange, James (Kathy) Brooks Jr., and sister-in-law Jeana (Nolan) Little; all the “walk-on” kids (particularly Wyatt, Neus, and Reagan) he treated like his own; aunts, uncles, cousins and friends whom he loved and treated like brothers and sisters.
He was preceded in death by his paternal great-grandparents Victor and Emma Jane Miller, and Earl and Agnes Gibson (Grandpa Pug and Meme); his maternal grandparents Ruperto and Lucia Gonzalez (Mampo and Mamo), and paternal grandparents Marion and Jane Miller; his great-uncles Darrell Gibson and Paul Gibson; aunts Lucinda Dechow and Eliza Watts; and uncles David Ibañez and Terry Gibson.
Memorial services for Steve will be held at Oak Grove Funeral Home of Ludington, 3060 W. US 10, Ludington, on Saturday, January 25, at noon, with visitation beginning at 11 a.m., followed by a luncheon.
Those wishing to make memorial contributions may direct them to the family.
Arrangements were entrusted to Oak Grove Funeral Home of Ludington, www.OakGroveLudington.com.
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