Thomas E. ‘Tommy’ Miller

Mr. Thomas E. “Tommy” Miller passed away Tuesday, Aug. 14.

He was born in Johnson City on Dec. 29, 1945. The Miller family moved to Oak Ridge in 1949.

He grew up hunting, fishing, and playing sports. He was an Eagle Scout and Explorer Scout with the local Boy Scouts troop. Mr. Miller graduated from Oak Ridge High School in 1964.

He married his high school sweetheart, Joan Prewitt, in 1966, and began a 22-year career in the United States Army. Sgt. First Class Miller (retired) served as a technician for the guidance and control section of the Pershing Missile Program during two tours in Germany. He worked as an instructor at the Missile and Munitions Command School at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama.

He then became a recruiter in Kentucky and Virginia, receiving the Army’s highest awards including the Recruiter’s Ring and the USARC Commanding General’s Trophy.

He concluded his service as an instructor with the Fourth Student Company at Redstone Arsenal.

After retirement from the Army, Mr. and Mrs. Miller returned home to Oak Ridge. He worked in the sporting goods department at Walmart, selling fishing licenses and telling jokes, until truly retiring in the spring of 2011.

Mr. Miller was a proud Tennessee Squire and Kentucky Colonel. He enjoyed spending time with his family and traveling to the Smoky Mountains.

Mr. Miller was preceded in death by his father, Victor Miller; his mother, Geneva Fern Miller Latimer; his step-father, Charles Latimer; his father-in-law, Kenneth Prewitt; his mother-in-law, Alpha Prewitt; and his beloved sister, Carolyn Sexton.

He is survived by his loving wife and best friend, Joan; his beloved sister, Marilyn Rust; his brother-in-law, Bert Rust; his brother-in-law, Dr. David Sexton; his son, Michael and wife, Kristin Miller; his son Kenneth; his daughter, Anna; his son, John; his daughter-in-law, Cristi; and his grandchildren, BriAnna, Jaime, Karmen, Jake, Ryan, Dylan, Samantha, Brady, and Catherine.

The family will receive friends and family from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 18, at Martin Funeral Home in Oak Ridge. A Celebration of Life service with military honors will be held in the chapel at the funeral home with Brother David Phillips at 7 p.m.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that a donation be made to the Army Emergency Relief fund, the American Heart Association, or the Boy Scouts of America.