Ada Irene Miller

Ada Irene Miller

Ada Irene Miller passed away Saturday, July 5, 2008, in Roanoke, Virginia, after a long illness.

She was born January 9, 1931, in Valencia, Pennsylvania, to the Reverend Clarence Truman Miller and Mary Lovina Wray Miller.

She was a graduate of Portage (PA) High School, and Jefferson Medical College School of Nursing (Philadelphia, PA) where she received her RN in 1952. She worked as a nurse at various facilities, most particularly as nurse and head nurse at the University of Virginia for over 34 years until her retirement in 1993.

In 1951, she married Charles Tracey Matthews and moved to Virginia.

Their children are Charles Tracey Matthews Jr. and his wife, Marilyn Rose, Union, West Virginia, Jill Denise Matthews Willson of Charlottesville, Virginia, James David Matthews, MD and his partner, the Reverend Joseph Leslie Cobb, of Roanoke, Virginia and Fletcher Garrett Matthews, MD and his wife, Sarah Loyola, of Roanoke, Virginia. Also surviving are grandchildren, Sarah Matthews, Bo Matthews, Brandon Matthews, Tammy Denise Willson, Sarah Nicole Willson, Virginia Jane Alexandra Matthews, Wesley James Matthews, Tyler Wray Matthews and Casi Mae Matthews.

She is survived by her siblings, Janice Miller Howe of Massachuets, Clarence Wray Miller and his wife, Janet, of Butler, Pennsylvania, Max Gene Miller and his wife, Barbara, of Ft Myers, Florida and Ann Louise Miller Popa of Connellsville, Pennsylvania; and numerous nieces and nephews.

As the daughter of a Methodist minister, she was active in church work throughout her life. She founded the Rainbow House, an after-school tutoring and bible study program for children and youth in Charlottesville, through Jefferson Park Baptist Church, where she had previously been a long term member. She was a member of Hinton Ave Methodist Church in Charlottesville, where she was active in bereavement ministry and other church missions, and was most recently a member of Green Memorial Methodist Church in Roanoke, Virginia. Other volunteer activities included working with the Free Clinic, Literacy Volunteers and serving as an officer of WMU.

She loved flower gardening, reading, playing games, music and sang in her church choirs.

Memorial services and celebration of her life are planned for 3 p.m. August 30, 2008, at Hinton Ave Methodist Church, 750 Hinton Ave, Charlottesville, VA 22902, 434-293-7049.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations in her honor to Rainbow House, Jefferson Park Baptist Church, 2505 Jefferson Park Avenue, Charlottesville, VA 22903.


This obituary was originally published in the Daily Progress.