Today I suddenly realized I'd forgotten to log on to the livestreamed funeral of Jacob Miller at 3 in the afternoon EST. I managed to access the service shortly before it ended! To my great relief, the service seemed to have been immediately archived, and I was able to start at the beginning and watch the whole service. It was short and sweet--just 50 minutes. Here it is if you would like to watch.
One of my favorite parts was all of his children singing together, and I'm guessing his youngest daughter Esther was at the piano, but I'm not sure.
These two pictures are ones I took on the screen, so they are not the best quality.
The other favorite part was hearing how Jacob Miller responded, after saying a short time ago that he felt he would not be around the next time his son and wife came to see him. "Are you ready?" the wife asked, as if it was necessary, but just wanting to hear.
"I'm ready," Jacob Mlller responded, "and secure.'
That was precious to me. What a beautiful assurance to his family! How beautiful it is that a person can know he is saved, that he is saved to the uttermost, and that he will be saved forever.
I enjoyed Jacob's oldest son's memories, and Jacob's grandson Steve's message and memories. And the brief but heartfelt prayer by Jacob Martin at the end.
"If anyone is here with a gap between them and You, Jesus," he prayed, "let that gap be closed today."
Following are a number of memories I also posted on the memory wall of the funeral home, (make sure to page all the way down) though I don't know if they actually posted or are still up for review. The link for that is this.
One by one, little memories of Jacob and Elma Miller and their family keep filtering in to my mind. My Morley family first met them when we moved to Summerfield, FL, and stayed a few months at Evangelical Bible Mission when I was 12 years old. During that time, I would sometimes go to visit the Millers, taking my little sister or two, to sing for their grandma whom they cared for and who was having trouble with alzheimers. The Miller family was so loving to the grandma, although more than once the funny things she said would have them in gales of laughter. Jacob's daughter Rhoda worked in the EBM office, and she even found a little job that my older sister Dorcas and I could do--sorting file after file of metal plates with addresses on them that were used in the EBM print shop for sending newsletters, etc. It was a tedious job, but something even young girls could do, and we were paid all of about $2 an hour for helping, but when we had no other income, $2 was pretty special at that time 47 years ago!
A few years later, our family moved down to Summerfield, FL, again for three or four winters in a row. Once or twice, our family would be invited to the Millers for a meal, and that was so special. Not very many people had the nerve to take up the challenge of having our family for a meal when they knew how strict Dad was with our diet. They were very welcoming, and Jacob's daughter Esther was, in the words of a sibling today, a "hoot." She always had something to laugh about, or make us laugh over. One time she came to visit us and brought along a musical instrument we had never heard of before. It was an "aquaphone," she explained. Who would like to be the first one to play it? Well, I was always ready for a challenge, so I placed my lips over the mouthpiece, like a trumpet, and blew into it, as Esther instructed. There was just one problem--I got a whole bunch of water sprayed into my face! How did we not catch on about an aquaphone? I don't know. While Jacob Miller was cheerful, he was sober, but his daughter Esther made up for his seriousness.
When I left to go to Ukraine to teach Bible and English in a school there, I felt I needed to let go of my vibraharp that I had used in deputation services. It was a large instrument and I decided to sell it since my family did not have room to store it. Instead, Jacob Miller offered to buy it, and he paid me $500 for it. Several years later, when Jonathan and I moved back home from Ukraine, he wanted to give it back to me. I wanted to pay him back the $500, but he let me know that he wanted no money. "I bought it so that you could have it back when you came back," he said. That was the kind of generous and thoughtful man he was, and it took my breath away. He cared about us Morley children. All of us loved him.
A memory from my sister Joella Morley Bradford: I remember one time when my dad disagreed with something Jacob Miller was doing in the Christian school he was administrating. Dad called him and really told him what he thought about this thing, but Jacob Miller did not kowtow to Dad. He defended his decision and let Dad know why he was doing what he was doing. Despite the disagreement, Jacob Miller continued to remain friends with our family. He did not let that or any disagreement come between him and our family. That was just the kind of man he was.
Anna Lucas
Posted May 14, 2025 at 04:32pm
Your comments and that of your siblings about my father-in-law, Jacob Miller, meant a lot to us. Thank you for sharing. Yes, Esther played the piano as her siblings sang "God's Way My Way," a family-favorite song the seven had also sung at their mother's funeral in 2003.
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