W. Udell Miller

W. Udell Miller, 79, passed away in the early morning hours on Friday, May 6, 2016, surrounded by his loving family.

Funeral services for W. Udell Miller will be held Friday, May 13, at 2 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church in Glasgow, followed by internment at the Highland Cemetery.

He was born Nov. 29, 1936, in Poplar to Erwin and Esther (Brown) Miller. He was raised in Fort Peck and schooled in Fort Peck and Glasgow, graduating from Glasgow High School in 1955. He married Karen Marie Wolden on Aug. 24, 1960, and had three children, twin's sons Stevin and Kevin and a daughter, Danette. Karen passed away in September 1984. In August of 1991 he married Judy Pointer.

He attended school through the eighth grade in Fort Peck and then to Glasgow High School. While in high school he excelled in athletics, playing football and basketball for the Scotties. He was on the basketball team that finished as state runner-up in 1953 to Helena during the statewide Big 16 conference. He was also on the basketball team that returned to the state tournament a couple years later. His best sport was baseball. He was the winning pitcher in the 1954 Montana State Legion baseball championship in which he pitched nearly two full nine-inning games back-to-back in order to capture the state title for Fort Peck. When not on the mound he was the team shortstop. He continued to play softball for many years, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

He began work for the Montana Power Company in April 1957, where he worked as a lineman until his retirement in 1988. After retirement, he did some meter reading for Montana Power in Glasgow. Retirement allowed him the freedom to enjoy traveling, spending winters in Arizona, fishing and hunting and family activities with kids and grandkids. He spent countless hours with family at Fort Peck camping, fishing and water skiing. He spent time fishing with his wife, Judy, and for the last many years he was a very reliable fishing partner with his sons. He rarely missed an opportunity or declined an invitation to go fishing and will be greatly missed as a boat passenger and fishing partner.

He was also an avid hunter of big game and upland game birds. He continued to enjoy every opportunity in the fall to be outdoors, satisfied with just being able to spend time in a vehicle motoring through the remote landscape of Valley County where the deer, elk and sharp tail grouse were located. To the end he always had the exceptional ability to use his shotgun to knock a fleeing game bird out of the air.

When he wasn't outdoors, he could always be found watching all of his grandchildren's school, church and sporting events. He also coached his son's youth baseball teams for many years.

At his home in Glasgow, he and Judy took great pride in their beautifully landscaped yard. They spent many hours during the summer maintaining an extensive back yard filled with a variety of flowers, plants and decorations. He always had a project of some form around the yard, including feeding the birds and rabbits. To the very end, the man was not idle and would not have it any other way. The morning and afternoon coffee groups were an important part of his daily routine.

He also enjoyed many family gatherings and produced a successful family reunion in Fort Peck for large group of local and distant relatives in 2012. He was a proud grandpa at his granddaughters' weddings and at the arrival of his three great-grandchildren. He loved those kids and spent as much time as he had available entertaining and playing with them. He was an exceptionally proud grandpa of all his grand- and great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Erwin and Ester Miller; and his wife, Karen Miller.

Survivors include his wife, Judy; three children, Stevin Miller of Fort Peck, Kevin Miller of Glasgow and Danette Borgen of Glasgow; a son-in-law, Verlin Borgen; a brother, Conrad Miller and his wife, Sharon, of Lakewood, Colo .; a sister, Doloris Tintinger and her husband, Ken, of Helena; a brother, Roger Miller and his wife, Loma, of Rochester, Minn .; three grandchildren, Whitney Tatafu and her husband Jason, of Glasgow, and their daughters, Finley and Kila; Blair Tomsheck and her husband, Matthew, of Sunburst, and their son, Kelden; Darbi (Brandon Hansard) Borgen of Glendive; a brother-in-law, George Fairclough, of Glasgow; nieces Janice Dix of Glasgow and Sandra Gallagher of Renton, Wash .; a nephew, Mike Fairclough of Glasgow; step-children Gayna Watson and her sons, Chris Wallem and Eric Wallem; Kelly Fogg of Bozeman and her son, Michael Fogg; a son-in-law Woody Fogg of Bozeman; Tom Pointer and his wife, Leah, of Billings and their children, Tyler, and his son, Brayden, Karli and Jacey; Sean Pointer and his wife, Beth, of Great Falls and their children, Carrie and Colton, and Kathryn Eaton and her husband, Curtis, of Huston, Texas, and their daughter, Taylor; Cap Czyzeski of Lake Havasu, Ariz .; Dorothy Egosque and her husband, Don, of Miles City, along with numerous other nieces, nephews and cousins.