Vida Maye Miller

1911 - 2005

Vida Maye Miller, 93, a retired elementary teacher in Fort Worth and other districts, died Tuesday, July 26, 2005, at her home.

Funeral: 2 p.m. Friday in the sanctuary of Broadway Baptist Church. Interment: Laurel Land Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Thompson's Harveson & Cole Funeral Home.

Memorials: Her memory may be honored with a gift to Broadway Baptist Church Children's Ministries, 305 W. Broadway, Fort Worth, Texas 76104.

Vida Maye was born Nov. 6, 1911, to Fuller and Kate Abbot Simpson on their family's small farm near Graham in rural Young County. She was valedictorian of her high school class and, despite her 4'11" height, was a star center on her school's varsity basketball team.

She had two brothers and a sister, Lida Faye, Vida Maye's identical twin. After graduation from Texas Tech in Lubbock, Vida Maye and Lida Faye both became teachers and often delighted their students by pretending to be each other.

Vida Maye Simpson and Travis William Miller were married Aug. 9, 1941. A year later, the couple moved to Fort Worth, where Vida Maye continued her three-decade career as a first-grade teacher and Travis continued his career as a housing executive with the federal government.

In addition to longtime career as a first grade teacher, Vida Maye also taught elementary Sunday school at Broadway Baptist Church, where she and Travis were members of the Companion Class. Her hobbies including gardening, sewing and caring for her beloved Boston Terrier dogs.

Survivors: Sons, John Miller and his wife, Beth Pfaff, of Fort Worth and James Miller of Oxford, Miss.; grandsons, David and Stephen Miller, both of Fort Worth; nieces, Kathryn Murphree and her husband, B.R. Murphree, of Houston and Marilyn Fry and her husband, Michael Fry, of Thousand Oaks, Calif.; sister-in-law, Patti Simpson of Stockton, Calif.; many great-nieces; and a great-nephew.