Joyce Ann (Higgy) Miller

Joyce Ann Higgy Miller died peacefully on Monday, February 7, 2022. Born on January 13, 1931, Joyce grew up spending summers at the Higgy family cottage in Bellaire, Michigan, a cottage that would continue to be a cornerstone for Millers for generations to come. Joyce was a lifelong Buckeye--enrolling at The University School at the age of five, she graduated from high school early at age seventeen, and attended The Ohio State University where she received her Bachelor of Science in Mathematics. Joyce had a strong heart, mind, and backhand swing. She loved recounting when she would give the OSU men’s tennis team a challenge on the courts as a teenager.

Joyce will be remembered as the matriarch of a large and loving Miller family. She married Ed Miller in 1950 and together they raised six children. In midlife and retirement, Joyce independently bought and restored a historic farm in Athens, Ohio where she lived from 1987 to 2014. Aligned to her Quaker values, Joyce considered herself a steward to the Earth and graciously shared her passions for nature, birding, and taking care of the environment with those who visited the farm. Ever the artist, she inspired many in the ways of weaving, textiles, painting, paper-making, and book-making. Joyce brought her love of the arts and the outdoors to her most recent home, Otterbein Granville (formerly Kendal at Granville) where she resided close to family and made new friends.

Preceded in death by daughter Linda Chakeres, Joyce is survived by her sister Janice, her children Cindy Luna, Edward (Linda), Don (Susan), Kathy, Tom (Wendy), son-in-law Donald Chakeres, 18 grandchildren and 14 great grandchildren.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made in Joyce’s honor to the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio’s I’m a Child of Appalachia Fund or to WOSU Public Media .

A service will be held in her honor at Bryn Du Carriage House in Granville, Ohio at 1 p.m. Sunday, February 13th. To share memories and reflections of Joyce, please visit https://www.weremember.com/joyce-miller/3z4k/memories .

Criss Wagner Hoskinson Funeral Home is honored to care for Joyce and her family. www.HoskinsonFuneral.com