Lyle Eldon Miller

Lyle Miller, 74, left for heaven June 25, 2024.He and a group of men from his church had been meeting at his home to pray weekly for several weeks.June 25 the men came to pray.After prayer, they sang “Face to Face”.Lyle quietly slipped to meet his Savior as the men sang.

Lyle was born in Des Moines, Iowa on Dec 16,1949 to Lloyd and Olive Miller.

One of the delights of his childhood and young adult years was farming. Each summer he spent time on the farm with family friends. In his college years he and Yontz threw bales for farmers near St Charles. Most recently he fed that love hauling milk for a dairy farm and kept track of the size of the dairy herd, watched new barns and buildings go up and was amazed at the size of the silage piles. He never lost his love for farming.

Lyle accepted Jesus Christ as his personal Savior when he was young. He and his family were active at Grandview Park Baptist Church and later at Calvary Baptist Church in St Charles.

Another of Lyle’s loves was fishing. Our family vacationed in Wisconsin at a small lake. One of the family’s stories was about the big fish that got away! In his Oregon days, he enjoyed salmon fishing. Most recently he has fished for muskies in Clear Lake. Last fall he got a huge muskie thanks to his friend Rich.

Lyle was able to make two trips to Israel. He greatly enjoyed what he learned and walking where Jesus walked. One of his favorite sites was the shepherds’ cave where they read Luke 2 and sang Christmas carols. Lots of pictures-both of places and people. Special bonds form as believers go to Israel.

Mom gifted Lyle with her enjoyment of gardening. During his Iowa years, he’s had two different garden spots-both large! Each fall he tills leaves into the soil. Both garden spots have benefited from LOTS of leaves. Lyle liked to see things sprout and grow. He spent hours working in his garden. One of the parts of gardening he liked best was sharing his produce with others. He planted, weeded and harvested. “Peddling” his produce was Priscilla’s job. The 2023 garden may have been his best garden ever. His doctors at Mayo Clinic could give testimonials to the melons and vegetables being tasty.

This spring, even with his diagnosis, he was determined to have a garden. No, it wasn’t smaller, but someone gave away four of his fourteen Jet Star tomato plants. Thanks to Ethan Keck and Dillon McKinney, there is a garden. This year’s weeding and harvest will be someone else’s to do.

Lyle was a member of Altoona Regular Baptist Church. He enjoyed fellowship with a number of the people there. The church has many talented musicians and he often talked about the beautiful music. The friendship and encouragement of the men were blessings to him.

Lyle was passionate about the importance of a biblical view of creation-it was God who created the heavens and earth. He liked reading-a variety of books, playing games and being able to help others.

He is survived by his siblings: Priscilla Miller of Altoona, IA and Yontz (Barb) Miller of Gig Harbor, WA; his nephew Yontz A (Lillie) and their children Eli and Indie of Tacoma, WA; an aunt Betty Stanger of Grimes, IA; and uncle Paul Stanger of Des Moines, IA. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorials can be made to Altoona Regular Baptist Church for its building project.