Sam Miller

Sam Miller passed away Wednesday, April 17, 2019. Family and friends will gather to celebrate her life of 78 years at 11 a.m. Friday, April 19, 2019, followed by a reception at Lake Ridge Chapel and Memorial Designers.Sam Miller was born on November 30, 1940 to Dean Deuel and Florence (Cox) in Aberdeen, SD. From a young age she played the piano and accordion – her father was a band director and musician, and she loved to dance on the bar at his gigs. Sam graduated from Northwestern School of Nursing and moved to Connecticut to pursue nursing and start a family. Much of Sam’s career was dedicated to helping young people whose lives had been compromised. She loved to garden, and was forever surrounded by her cats and dogs. Her sharp observations and dry wit were near legendary, and her homes were often the hubs of social activities like the kid’s music making and the family and friends’ poker games. Sam was the Head Nurse of the Psychiatric Unit at Methodist Hospital, then the Program Director of the Child and Adolescent Unit at Charter Plains Hospital, and lastly the Quality Manager at Lubbock Regional Mental Health Mental Retardation Center.Survivors include her spouse, Kelley Jennings; three daughters, Jaye Leann Hersh of Ojai, CA, Kathy Lynn Gregory and husband Tony of Abilene, TX, Erika Eve Harding of Ventura, CA; son, Peter Nordberg and wife Christine Guzzardo of Spokane, WA; four grandchildren, Melissa Denson and husband Marcus, Matthew Gregory and wife Jenifer, Kelsey Hersh and husband Jonathon Carlson, and Garrison Barrett; four great-grandchildren, Colter and Kinsley Denson, and Kamryn and Mason Gregory; two brothers, Maurice Baudoin, III and wife June, and Dean Deuel and wife Janet.She was preceded in death by her parents; and a son, John Alfred Miller.