William Miller

1930 - 2010

William Jack Miller was born April 1, 1930 in Danville, Ill. The son of Homer and Agnes Miller, Jack was the third of four boys. Oldest was Gerald then Edward, Jack and Melvin. Jack grew up a true country boy playing and working in the fields of Danville and winning ribbons for his horse riding and roping from a very young age. He also found himself becoming a young entertainer singing with his aunt Virginia on a weekly radio program.

But his life really began to change when he joined the Navy right out of high school in 1947 to see the world. Jack found many fond memories as a crew member of the USS Missouri - the Mighty Mo. Fighting in the Korean war he traveled throughout Asia as well as Europe. It was during those long voyages that he taught himself to play the guitar. He was a true fan of Country Western music and was so thrilled to have discovered that you could play nearly any country song using only three cords.

He landed in many exotic ports during his time in the Navy but he found the girl of his dreams, Jeanne Semaria, right back in the USA on a blind date in 1950. It was in August of that same year that they were married, the beginning of 60 wonderful years together. They were married in Norfolk but soon moved to Jeannes hometown of Brooklyn, N.Y. Their first child, Cherie, came along in 1953 and two years later it was Debby, then Brian, and then Danny born in 1969.

While living in New York, Jack put that guitar to good use and played in a Coney Island Honky Tonk called The Eagle Bar under the stage name "Billy Jack." Not only could he earn a little extra money to help raise his young family, but he was able to do something he loved in the process. It was the spring of 1968 when Jack decided to move his family west for a better life (and to get away from the cold winters!). Having worked multiple jobs those first couple of years, he finally landed at Los Angeles County Medical Center where he worked for 20 years before retiring in 1990.

The last 20 years Jack has spent with his sweetheart and watching his 11 grandchildren grow. He and Jeanne traveled to many places around the world and particularly loved taking cruises racking up 19 cruises altogether from Alaska to Greece. In addition to traveling, he loved working in his garden, trips to Las Vegas, reading western novels and joke books and of course playing his guitar for his family, a memory that will never be forgotten.

Jack died Oct. 15, 2010 after a very brief battle with cancer.