Star Tribune (Waseca, Mn.) - Obituary, Aug. 30, 2006
Lucille married Alvin Joseph Miller on Apr. 16, 1940.
She was the daughter of Vincent & Mary Lynch Kahnke.
Waseca Mom of 22 Dies
The Waseca woman also took in several kids, led two women's groups and worked to set up group homes for the handicapped.
Lucille Miller of Waseca, Minn., who bore 15 girls and seven boys and raised them on a farm with the help of her organizational skills and the buddy system, died Monday in Waseca. She was 83.
Miller was 17 when she had her first child and 43 when she had her last.
"We didn't intend to have this many children," she said in an April 17, 2000, Star Tribune article by Chuck Haga. "But it's been wonderful to have them and watch them grow. They're all individuals."
Miller also took in several children who needed homes over the years. She led two Catholic women's groups at her church and founded an organization to set up group homes for the mentally disabled in Waseca.
Her daughter Sister Ramona of Rochester, a Franciscan nun, reported that Miller went door to door to calm neighbors who, in the early 1970s, were afraid to have a group home nearby.
Miller, who had three children with mental disabilities, would tell them: "These persons coming into the group home will be fine neighbors. They're my children," said her daughter, who explained that some of the new neighbors would be Millers.
If her children misbehaved, Miller never raised her voice, said another daughter, Helen of Minneapolis. Miller would have them sing or pray "and then the children would settle down," she said.
Mornings on their 300-acre farm, Miller and her husband, Alvin, would make lists of what needed to be done, and dole out the chores. And they used the buddy system: A child would be responsible for her or his immediately younger sibling.
"It was all very organized. It was much more orderly than people imagine," said Helen. "My mom is a saint."
In addition to her husband and daughters Sister Ramona and Helen, she is survived by daughters Rose Ann of Waseca; Kathleen of Waite Park, Minn.; Patricia Rice of Warsaw, Minn.; Marylu Miller Peterson of Faribault, Minn.; Diane of St. Paul; Janet Miller Bayuk of Alexandria, Va.; Linda of Bloomington; Virginia of Shoreview; Dolores of Decorah, Iowa; Pauline of Waseca; Alice of Winona, Minn.; Angela Cholewa of Elgin, Ill., and Marcia of Mankato; sons Alvin, Robert, Martin and Gregory, all of Waseca; John Bot-Miller of St. Cloud; Arthur of Spokane, Wash., and Damien of Payetteville, Idaho; sisters Sister Marianne Kahnke of St. Paul; Margaret of Waterville, Minn., and Therese Nord of Waterville; brothers Vincent Kahnke and Dave Kahnke, both of Waseca, and more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waseca.
Lucille married Alvin Joseph Miller on Apr. 16, 1940.
She was the daughter of Vincent & Mary Lynch Kahnke.
Waseca Mom of 22 Dies
The Waseca woman also took in several kids, led two women's groups and worked to set up group homes for the handicapped.
Lucille Miller of Waseca, Minn., who bore 15 girls and seven boys and raised them on a farm with the help of her organizational skills and the buddy system, died Monday in Waseca. She was 83.
Miller was 17 when she had her first child and 43 when she had her last.
"We didn't intend to have this many children," she said in an April 17, 2000, Star Tribune article by Chuck Haga. "But it's been wonderful to have them and watch them grow. They're all individuals."
Miller also took in several children who needed homes over the years. She led two Catholic women's groups at her church and founded an organization to set up group homes for the mentally disabled in Waseca.
Her daughter Sister Ramona of Rochester, a Franciscan nun, reported that Miller went door to door to calm neighbors who, in the early 1970s, were afraid to have a group home nearby.
Miller, who had three children with mental disabilities, would tell them: "These persons coming into the group home will be fine neighbors. They're my children," said her daughter, who explained that some of the new neighbors would be Millers.
If her children misbehaved, Miller never raised her voice, said another daughter, Helen of Minneapolis. Miller would have them sing or pray "and then the children would settle down," she said.
Mornings on their 300-acre farm, Miller and her husband, Alvin, would make lists of what needed to be done, and dole out the chores. And they used the buddy system: A child would be responsible for her or his immediately younger sibling.
"It was all very organized. It was much more orderly than people imagine," said Helen. "My mom is a saint."
In addition to her husband and daughters Sister Ramona and Helen, she is survived by daughters Rose Ann of Waseca; Kathleen of Waite Park, Minn.; Patricia Rice of Warsaw, Minn.; Marylu Miller Peterson of Faribault, Minn.; Diane of St. Paul; Janet Miller Bayuk of Alexandria, Va.; Linda of Bloomington; Virginia of Shoreview; Dolores of Decorah, Iowa; Pauline of Waseca; Alice of Winona, Minn.; Angela Cholewa of Elgin, Ill., and Marcia of Mankato; sons Alvin, Robert, Martin and Gregory, all of Waseca; John Bot-Miller of St. Cloud; Arthur of Spokane, Wash., and Damien of Payetteville, Idaho; sisters Sister Marianne Kahnke of St. Paul; Margaret of Waterville, Minn., and Therese Nord of Waterville; brothers Vincent Kahnke and Dave Kahnke, both of Waseca, and more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waseca.
Star Tribune (Waseca, Mn.) - Obituary, Aug. 30, 2006
Lucille married Alvin Joseph Miller on Apr. 16, 1940.
She was the daughter of Vincent & Mary Lynch Kahnke.
Waseca Mom of 22 Dies
The Waseca woman also took in several kids, led two women's groups and worked to set up group homes for the handicapped.
Lucille Miller of Waseca, Minn., who bore 15 girls and seven boys and raised them on a farm with the help of her organizational skills and the buddy system, died Monday in Waseca. She was 83.
Miller was 17 when she had her first child and 43 when she had her last.
"We didn't intend to have this many children," she said in an April 17, 2000, Star Tribune article by Chuck Haga. "But it's been wonderful to have them and watch them grow. They're all individuals."
Miller also took in several children who needed homes over the years. She led two Catholic women's groups at her church and founded an organization to set up group homes for the mentally disabled in Waseca.
Her daughter Sister Ramona of Rochester, a Franciscan nun, reported that Miller went door to door to calm neighbors who, in the early 1970s, were afraid to have a group home nearby.
Miller, who had three children with mental disabilities, would tell them: "These persons coming into the group home will be fine neighbors. They're my children," said her daughter, who explained that some of the new neighbors would be Millers.
If her children misbehaved, Miller never raised her voice, said another daughter, Helen of Minneapolis. Miller would have them sing or pray "and then the children would settle down," she said.
Mornings on their 300-acre farm, Miller and her husband, Alvin, would make lists of what needed to be done, and dole out the chores. And they used the buddy system: A child would be responsible for her or his immediately younger sibling.
"It was all very organized. It was much more orderly than people imagine," said Helen. "My mom is a saint."
In addition to her husband and daughters Sister Ramona and Helen, she is survived by daughters Rose Ann of Waseca; Kathleen of Waite Park, Minn.; Patricia Rice of Warsaw, Minn.; Marylu Miller Peterson of Faribault, Minn.; Diane of St. Paul; Janet Miller Bayuk of Alexandria, Va.; Linda of Bloomington; Virginia of Shoreview; Dolores of Decorah, Iowa; Pauline of Waseca; Alice of Winona, Minn.; Angela Cholewa of Elgin, Ill., and Marcia of Mankato; sons Alvin, Robert, Martin and Gregory, all of Waseca; John Bot-Miller of St. Cloud; Arthur of Spokane, Wash., and Damien of Payetteville, Idaho; sisters Sister Marianne Kahnke of St. Paul; Margaret of Waterville, Minn., and Therese Nord of Waterville; brothers Vincent Kahnke and Dave Kahnke, both of Waseca, and more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waseca.
Lucille married Alvin Joseph Miller on Apr. 16, 1940.
She was the daughter of Vincent & Mary Lynch Kahnke.
Waseca Mom of 22 Dies
The Waseca woman also took in several kids, led two women's groups and worked to set up group homes for the handicapped.
Lucille Miller of Waseca, Minn., who bore 15 girls and seven boys and raised them on a farm with the help of her organizational skills and the buddy system, died Monday in Waseca. She was 83.
Miller was 17 when she had her first child and 43 when she had her last.
"We didn't intend to have this many children," she said in an April 17, 2000, Star Tribune article by Chuck Haga. "But it's been wonderful to have them and watch them grow. They're all individuals."
Miller also took in several children who needed homes over the years. She led two Catholic women's groups at her church and founded an organization to set up group homes for the mentally disabled in Waseca.
Her daughter Sister Ramona of Rochester, a Franciscan nun, reported that Miller went door to door to calm neighbors who, in the early 1970s, were afraid to have a group home nearby.
Miller, who had three children with mental disabilities, would tell them: "These persons coming into the group home will be fine neighbors. They're my children," said her daughter, who explained that some of the new neighbors would be Millers.
If her children misbehaved, Miller never raised her voice, said another daughter, Helen of Minneapolis. Miller would have them sing or pray "and then the children would settle down," she said.
Mornings on their 300-acre farm, Miller and her husband, Alvin, would make lists of what needed to be done, and dole out the chores. And they used the buddy system: A child would be responsible for her or his immediately younger sibling.
"It was all very organized. It was much more orderly than people imagine," said Helen. "My mom is a saint."
In addition to her husband and daughters Sister Ramona and Helen, she is survived by daughters Rose Ann of Waseca; Kathleen of Waite Park, Minn.; Patricia Rice of Warsaw, Minn.; Marylu Miller Peterson of Faribault, Minn.; Diane of St. Paul; Janet Miller Bayuk of Alexandria, Va.; Linda of Bloomington; Virginia of Shoreview; Dolores of Decorah, Iowa; Pauline of Waseca; Alice of Winona, Minn.; Angela Cholewa of Elgin, Ill., and Marcia of Mankato; sons Alvin, Robert, Martin and Gregory, all of Waseca; John Bot-Miller of St. Cloud; Arthur of Spokane, Wash., and Damien of Payetteville, Idaho; sisters Sister Marianne Kahnke of St. Paul; Margaret of Waterville, Minn., and Therese Nord of Waterville; brothers Vincent Kahnke and Dave Kahnke, both of Waseca, and more than 50 grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. today at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Waseca.
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