Gussie Faye Miller's Obituary
GUSSIE FAYE MILLER
June 8, 1920 - October 26, 2020
Gussie Faye Miller (Mamaw to the grandkids and Faye to all others) was born in Simpsonville Community, Upshur County, Texas on June 8, 1920 to parents William Washington Tanton and Carrie Zela Nelson. Her parents were born in Texas after their families migrated from Alabama and Georgia. The family moved into Hunt County where she attended early school grades in Nevada, Southwest of Greenville, and later grades in White Rock, North of Greenville. Eventually her parents settled in Greenville, where they spent the remainder of their lives.
The family was living in Tidwell, just North of Greenville in 1941. While picking cotton, she met her future husband and was married to Elbert Daniel Miller on September 12, 1942. This started a marriage that lasted over 71 years, producing three boys and ending only with her husband's death on December 19, 2013.
Faye was the seventh of ten children. She had four brothers and five sisters with births ranging from as early as 1907 to as late as 1932. With that many kids in the family, everyone had a job preparing meals. She said that her job was baking. She learned well because she made delicious pies and cakes for all occasions throughout her life. All her siblings preceded her in death.
After the birth of their first child, Elbert concluded that working on a farm would never support his growing family, so he sought work in other areas. He obtained work in Dallas at Murray Gin Company, so the young family moved to Dallas. After the birth of their second child and prior to the children starting school, they decided to live in a more rural setting with affordable housing and smaller schools. The family moved to Garland for a few years, then to Mesquite until 1952 when they bought their first and only home, back in Garland.
For most of her life Faye was a homemaker and seamstress for her family and neighbors. Up until the boys entered high school she made their shirts and even some pants, and about anything else that could be sewn. Friends and neighbors often brought items for her to repair or material for a dress or shirt. Faye was also very talented with a crochet needle and thread. She made afghans, table cloths, and many other items that were shared with friends and family throughout the years. She worked outside their home only once when she sewed hats for Resistol Hat Factory in Garland. She left Resistol to have their third child.
Faye always had a green thumb and could grow just about anything. She helped Elbert with a vegetable garden until it became too hard for them to plow and till. She kept her porch, flower beds and patio, and most of the house full of potted plants which she tended daily.
Faye was a fisherman. She and Elbert spent many weekends on the lake fishing for Crappie and Catfish, or whatever was biting at the time. They eventually bought property with a small cabin
on Lake Tawakoni so they could spend all weekend fishing without having to travel back and forth to Garland. This continued for years until the trip became too much for them.
She loved to visit with friends and neighbors who dropped by to see her. She always had something to talk about and not just in person. Once you got her started on the phone, all you had to do was throw in an "uh huh" every now and then and the conversation could continue for hours.
After Elbert's death, Faye continued to keep her home of 61 years, living alone and caring for herself with the boys keeping close contact. She was resistant to moving into their homes or considering another living arrangement. After arthritis forced her to stop sewing and crocheting, she found a new hobby. She liked working word puzzles and always had a book in the works, or she would cut the puzzles from the daily paper and save them up so she always had several to work. She thought that doing the puzzles was a way to keep her mind sharp. Apparently it worked. She also discovered that she liked putting picture puzzles together. Family and friends would often bring over boxes of them at a time. She would keep the ones she was especially proud of out for show on a bed or table top just in case a visitor or family member came by.
In 2019, after living in her home for 67 years, she fell while walking outside. The fall broke her hip and wrist. She recovered completely at 99 years of age. But, due to her hip and her condition due to age, she couldn't return to her home and care for herself. She liked being a resident at Golden Acres for the care and concern she received from the nurses and staff. She also liked the attention and notoriety of being 100 and the oldest resident in the home. Her mental capacity remained sharp until only in the last 10 months when dementia started to creep in. She might not remember what she had for lunch, but she knew who she was, who her family was and many of the past details of her life.
Over the last year, Faye had three bouts with pneumonia which sent her to the hospital. Surprisingly, she recovered each time. The last time however, she was just too weak from the ordeal and passed on October 26, 2020, one week after returning from the hospital. Faye lived to be 100 years, 4 months and 18 days old. A life well lived.
In addition to her three sons and their wives, David L. Miller and Mickie, Gerald G. Miller and Linda, Eddie D. Miller and Theresa, she has 9 grandchildren, 11 great-grandchildren and 17 great-great-grandchildren. She was dearly loved and will be greatly missed.
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