12/16/2025
James Charles Miller Jr. passed away on December 13, 2025, at the age of 86.
He was born Jan 13, 1939 to Juanita and James Sr. Dad lost his parents when they both died of tuberculosis; his dad in 1943 and his mom in 1945. After his parents passed, young Jimmy was raised by his grandmother Baker and Nita’s sister, Jean. Shortly after he was orphaned, Jimmy contracted polio. He avoided time in an iron lung, but unable to walk, he laid on a couch all day long for a year, causing a permanent curve to his upper spine. The polio resulted in one leg being significantly shorter than the other and the bones of his feet a permanent source of chronic pain.
Jim didn’t like school much, so he dropped out of Woodruff High School when he was 17. Before he dropped out, he met a cute girl named Patty McNulty on a blind date. Jim was smitten; Pat thought he was cute, but a bit of a trouble maker.
When Jim left school, he lied to a Marine recruiter and said he was 18. The Marines overlooked his obvious limp and signed him up. He was stationed in Pearl Harbor, Honolulu as an MP, guarded the USS Oklahoma and earned his GED.
Any time off was spent hitchhiking back to Peoria to see Patty and trying to sell her on marrying him and starting a family. He really wanted a family. Pat and Jim tied the knot in a very small ceremony in 1960.
One of my dad’s traits was wanderlust. He was always moving from job to job, trying to make the most money he could (which was never much, but enough). Always full of ideas, Jim started multiple businesses: he opened the first video rental store in central IL (Video 1); started making fiberglass fishing boats with his brother in law, Bill (Billy Boats); opened a donut shop in NM (Patty’s Donuts); went to school in TX to become a certified Farrier and multiple other “professional adventures”, none of which ever lasted long or made him rich.
Without question, the most important part of Jim’s life, was his three daughters. Pat & Jim were very good planners: Kathleen was born in 1963, Karen followed in 1966, and they reached a pinnacle with Kristina in 1969.
Kris was a tomboy from the minute she was born and Jim loved to describe her as “the boy I never had”.
Jim tried as best he could to provide for his family of 5 and dreamed of raising his girls out in the country. Around 1972, he bought land in Kickapoo, IL and built a house. He hired some of the work out, but he and his brothers in law, friends, wife (and his youngest would like to think she had a big hand in the construction) built, but never quite finished a two story home. Always a man with ideas, Jim added a barn for a horse and raised geese, ducks and chickens.
One of his greatest joys was watching his daughters participate in school activities: Kathy in band, Karen as a pom pom performer, and Kris in softball and basketball. He and Pat worked so hard to attend as many games as they could and were always a staple in the stands at Brimfield High School or driving a van full of girls across the state to different competitions.
My dad was a guy most people wouldn’t remember. He was simple. He was a little boy inside the body of a 6’2” man; most times a bit awkward, wanting to make people laugh, but always giving and kind, and stood by the life lesson of “use the right tool”.
In his last years, strokes and Post Polio Syndrome took their toll.
He passed onto the next stage of life or whatever the universe has in store for a soul when the body quits working.
He never was a religious man, but thought if there was a heaven, he’d like to go.
James wanted to be cremated but didn’t want any kind of funeral service.
I want to tell people his story.
He was a good man that never longed to be great.
He loved his wife.
He loved his daughters.
He loved being part of the McNulty clan.
He loved his granddaughter, Abby and grandson, Bryce.
He loved fishing, New Mexico, donuts, cars, chocolate milk, driving, watching softball, Mexican food (but not the rice), Coors Lite, cookies, a really red desert sunset, The Bears, coffee and talking about his daughters.
https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/jackson-tn/james-miller-12667459
