Martha Joan (Jo) Warfield Miller, 85, passed away peacefully in the Vitas Hospice Unit at Baylor Carrollton Hospital on Friday, December 26, 2014 of complications from falling at home fracturing her hip. She was born in Waco, Texas on March 31, 1929 to Ven H. and Martha Victoria (Watson) Warfield. She graduated from Waco High School and attended Baylor University through her sophomore year. She worked for the Veterans Administration and then in the Purchasing Department at James Connally Air Force Base where she met her husband of 63 years, Ralph Miller, while he was in flight training for the US Army at Connally. They married on June 23, 1951. She worked in the Purchasing Department at Purdue University for 2 years while her husband completed his engineering degree. They moved to the DFW area in 1953 where they have resided since. Joan and her husband have been members of Ridgeview Presbyterian Church, now Faith United Presbyterian Church, since 1964
A sister, Elaine Terrell Warfield Thomas, preceded her in death in 1989.
Joan’s ashes will be buried at a graveside service at a later date in the Steward’s Mill Cemetery near Fairfield, Texas with Rev. Terry McLellan officiating and under the direction of Capps Memorial Chapel of Fairfield. She will be the fifth generation there. She was a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Joan’s great-great grandmother Rebecca Jane Hinton came from South Carolina to the Republic of Texas in 1839 with her husband, William Capps, and 18 month old daughter. Rebecca’s husband was killed in a skirmish with Indians in 1840. Then she married Pleasant Clark Whitaker, who also had come from South Carolina and they had 8 children. One, Martha Elizabeth Whitaker, was Joan’s great grandmother Watson. P C Whitaker was Sheriff of Falls County on December 27, 1859 when he was shot and killed. He was buried in a family plot at Reagan just south of Marlin, Texas. His widow later married George Washington Steward, the owner of the mill at Steward ’s Mill and she lived there until her death in 1870. Rebecca and all of Joan’s subsequent ancestors descended from Rebecca lived in that area and are buried near where Joan will be buried in the Spring. Joan also descended from George Washington Steward; her grandmother, Anna Wells Watson, was his granddaughter.
Joan contributed for many years to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105-3678 and requested that donations in her name be made to it in lieu of flowers.
The last 2 lines of this poem are on her headstone for it is one Joan liked:
A Thousand Winds
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
—Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932
A sister, Elaine Terrell Warfield Thomas, preceded her in death in 1989.
Joan’s ashes will be buried at a graveside service at a later date in the Steward’s Mill Cemetery near Fairfield, Texas with Rev. Terry McLellan officiating and under the direction of Capps Memorial Chapel of Fairfield. She will be the fifth generation there. She was a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Joan’s great-great grandmother Rebecca Jane Hinton came from South Carolina to the Republic of Texas in 1839 with her husband, William Capps, and 18 month old daughter. Rebecca’s husband was killed in a skirmish with Indians in 1840. Then she married Pleasant Clark Whitaker, who also had come from South Carolina and they had 8 children. One, Martha Elizabeth Whitaker, was Joan’s great grandmother Watson. P C Whitaker was Sheriff of Falls County on December 27, 1859 when he was shot and killed. He was buried in a family plot at Reagan just south of Marlin, Texas. His widow later married George Washington Steward, the owner of the mill at Steward ’s Mill and she lived there until her death in 1870. Rebecca and all of Joan’s subsequent ancestors descended from Rebecca lived in that area and are buried near where Joan will be buried in the Spring. Joan also descended from George Washington Steward; her grandmother, Anna Wells Watson, was his granddaughter.
Joan contributed for many years to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105-3678 and requested that donations in her name be made to it in lieu of flowers.
The last 2 lines of this poem are on her headstone for it is one Joan liked:
A Thousand Winds
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
—Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932
Martha Joan (Jo) Warfield Miller, 85, passed away peacefully in the Vitas Hospice Unit at Baylor Carrollton Hospital on Friday, December 26, 2014 of complications from falling at home fracturing her hip. She was born in Waco, Texas on March 31, 1929 to Ven H. and Martha Victoria (Watson) Warfield. She graduated from Waco High School and attended Baylor University through her sophomore year. She worked for the Veterans Administration and then in the Purchasing Department at James Connally Air Force Base where she met her husband of 63 years, Ralph Miller, while he was in flight training for the US Army at Connally. They married on June 23, 1951. She worked in the Purchasing Department at Purdue University for 2 years while her husband completed his engineering degree. They moved to the DFW area in 1953 where they have resided since. Joan and her husband have been members of Ridgeview Presbyterian Church, now Faith United Presbyterian Church, since 1964
A sister, Elaine Terrell Warfield Thomas, preceded her in death in 1989.
Joan’s ashes will be buried at a graveside service at a later date in the Steward’s Mill Cemetery near Fairfield, Texas with Rev. Terry McLellan officiating and under the direction of Capps Memorial Chapel of Fairfield. She will be the fifth generation there. She was a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Joan’s great-great grandmother Rebecca Jane Hinton came from South Carolina to the Republic of Texas in 1839 with her husband, William Capps, and 18 month old daughter. Rebecca’s husband was killed in a skirmish with Indians in 1840. Then she married Pleasant Clark Whitaker, who also had come from South Carolina and they had 8 children. One, Martha Elizabeth Whitaker, was Joan’s great grandmother Watson. P C Whitaker was Sheriff of Falls County on December 27, 1859 when he was shot and killed. He was buried in a family plot at Reagan just south of Marlin, Texas. His widow later married George Washington Steward, the owner of the mill at Steward ’s Mill and she lived there until her death in 1870. Rebecca and all of Joan’s subsequent ancestors descended from Rebecca lived in that area and are buried near where Joan will be buried in the Spring. Joan also descended from George Washington Steward; her grandmother, Anna Wells Watson, was his granddaughter.
Joan contributed for many years to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105-3678 and requested that donations in her name be made to it in lieu of flowers.
The last 2 lines of this poem are on her headstone for it is one Joan liked:
A Thousand Winds
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
—Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932
A sister, Elaine Terrell Warfield Thomas, preceded her in death in 1989.
Joan’s ashes will be buried at a graveside service at a later date in the Steward’s Mill Cemetery near Fairfield, Texas with Rev. Terry McLellan officiating and under the direction of Capps Memorial Chapel of Fairfield. She will be the fifth generation there. She was a member of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas.
Joan’s great-great grandmother Rebecca Jane Hinton came from South Carolina to the Republic of Texas in 1839 with her husband, William Capps, and 18 month old daughter. Rebecca’s husband was killed in a skirmish with Indians in 1840. Then she married Pleasant Clark Whitaker, who also had come from South Carolina and they had 8 children. One, Martha Elizabeth Whitaker, was Joan’s great grandmother Watson. P C Whitaker was Sheriff of Falls County on December 27, 1859 when he was shot and killed. He was buried in a family plot at Reagan just south of Marlin, Texas. His widow later married George Washington Steward, the owner of the mill at Steward ’s Mill and she lived there until her death in 1870. Rebecca and all of Joan’s subsequent ancestors descended from Rebecca lived in that area and are buried near where Joan will be buried in the Spring. Joan also descended from George Washington Steward; her grandmother, Anna Wells Watson, was his granddaughter.
Joan contributed for many years to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105-3678 and requested that donations in her name be made to it in lieu of flowers.
The last 2 lines of this poem are on her headstone for it is one Joan liked:
A Thousand Winds
Do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning’s hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
—Mary Elizabeth Frye, 1932
Inscription
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.
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