On July 14, 2020, Charles (Charlie) Jerdon Miller went to the
biggest homecoming reunion in heaven after a long battle with
Alzheimer’s.
He was born January 6, 1935 in Broken Bow,
Oklahoma to Uda and Ruby (Ralls) Miller. He was the oldest of
five children and the only brother to Pat, Doris, Judy, and
Dianne, who loved and adored him from the day they were born and
thought he hung the moon. Growing up Charles played football,
despite only weighing 120 pounds when he graduated high school.
Charles married his childhood sweetheart, Relda Kendrick, on
June 8, 1953 in Hugo, Ok, they were happily married for 50 years
until Relda’s death in 2003. The couple had three children:
Charles Kendrick (Kenny), Kendra Lynne (Jug Butt), and Karla Sue
(Brown eyes). Charles had two grandchildren from Kendra: Mandy
(Poo Poo) and Cody (Pooter), and he had two grandchildren from
Karla: Jason (Bubbie) and Shannon (Shanny).
They loved their children and grandchildren fiercely and devoted
much of their time to their family, spending many years helping
to care for Charles’ parents. They were always involved parents
and developed many lifelong friendships in the community.
Charles gave many of his family and friend’s nicknames, some
funny and some affectionate, dubbing his sister Dianne as ‘Mouth
of the South’ and his first great granddaughter, Makenna,
‘SweetPea’.
In the early years of their marriage, Charles and Relda moved
around to various states before settling in Collinsville in
1961. They attended the First Baptist Church in Collinsville
for many years where Charles taught Sunday school, having a huge
influence on the lives of many of the youth. As a married
couple, they enjoyed traveling throughout their marriage,
sharing many adventures. After retiring in 1997 from Belger
Cartage as the general manager with 28 years of service, Charles
and Relda began their “motor home dream” trips to Colorado and
other neighboring states during the summers. They loved seeing
the mountains and the wildlife and simply spending time
together.
Charles had many hobbies and collections over the years. In the
early 70’s, Charles and Dr. Beryl Henwood were model train
enthusiasts, even converting a building on main street into a
model train room. He collected guns, a passion he shared with
both sons-in-law, Jeff and Gary. He loved loud music including
Eric Clapton, Emerson Lake and Palmer, Tina Turner, and Jethro
Tull. He shared his love of music with his kids and grandkids,
often attending Leon Russell concerts with both of his
daughters, he loved his music “window rattling loud”. Charles
also loved cars. He owned a cool El Camino he let Kendra drive
as a teenager, and a Corvette that made his granddaughter Mandy
think he was the coolest man alive. He even ventured into
photography taking classes with Karla at Rogers State in
Claremore in the 80’s. Charles enjoyed carpentry and built many
things for his friends and family. As far as his family is
concerned there was not anything he could not do or fix, they
have always and will continue to view him as their hero.
On April 9, 2004, he married Judy Ann Carter in Skiatook, Ok and
moved to Sperry to begin their life together adding another
daughter and son-in-law to Charles’s life, Amy and Derrill, as
well as three grandchildren, Jamy, Veronica and Caleb. Charles
and Judy continued the motor home trips for many years. He
enjoyed scaring Judy by finding the narrowest, winding roads to
drive on during their trips and they loved watching the animals
in nature. Later, because of their health, they beginning
shorter day trips or fishing trips where he did not even fish.
Charles joined Owasso Pentecostal Church and donated his time
and carpentry skills to the church, something he enjoyed.
Charles and Judy enjoyed spending time at home with their cats
and sitting on their porch bird watching during Charles’s final
years.
Charles was preceded in death by his parents, Uda and Ruby
Miller, wife, Relda Kendrick Miller, his son, Charles Kendrick
Miller, his daughter Kendra Lynne Burch, grandson Jason Thomas
Bradley, and brother in law, Max David Riffe.
He is survived by his wife, Judy Ann Miller, daughters, Karla
(Jeff) Bradley and Amy (Derrill) West, son-in-law Gary (Denise)
Burch; Grandchildren Amanda (Toby Johnson) Burch, Cody (Sarah)
Burch, Shannon (J.D.) Ruth, Jamy (Tony Rendon) Kaddoura,
Veronica (Jeff) Bennett, and Caleb West; great grandchildren:
Makenna, Kendra, and Owen Burch, Taylor Sammons, Alexis Bragg,
Ailyah Kaddoura, Aubrie Rendon, Jeffrey III, Adon and Ezekiel
Bennett; four sisters: Pat Riffe, Doris (Dink) Hewitt, Judy
(Gary/Butch/Jabberjaws) Betz and Dianne (Buddy) Smith; one
sister-in-law, Lorretta Kendrick; and many loved nieces and
nephews.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in
Charles’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association at alz.org.
Visitation: Monday, July 20, 2020 from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at
Collinsville Dolton Funeral Home.
Graveside Service: 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, July 21, 2020 at
Ridgelawn Cemetery with Pastor Shane Cheek officiating.
