Funeral services for Ernestine Miller, age 102, of Mott, ND, formerly of the Meadow, SD, area will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2020 at the Prince of Peace Chapel of the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon, SD.  Pastor Harold Delbridge will officiate with burial to follow in the Greenhill Cemetery at Lemmon.

The funeral service will be live streamed on the website www.evansonjensenfuneralhome.com

Ernestine passed away peacefully on Saturday November 7, 2020; one day before she turned 103.

Yes, Grandma's real name is Leota, she never liked it and if you called her Leota, you were in big trouble!  Leota Ernestine Miller was born November 8, 1917 to John Paul and Temperance (Broiles) Paul.  Ernestine grew up on her parents farm near Welda, KS, attended a rural school and graduated High School from Welda, KS in 1936.  In 1937, she moved to Fort Collins, CO to find work, where she met Gottlieb Miller.  They were united in marriage on October 15, 1939, to this union was born one son, Sidney.  In 1942 they moved to SD where Gottlieb worked on the Parrott ranch near Glad Valley and Ernestine cooked out of a sheep wagon for the ranch hands.  In October, 1944 they purchased a ranch east of Meadow, where they started raising turkeys, geese, and Hereford cattle.

If you came to Grandma's in the spring, you were likely to trip over boxes of baby lambs in the house, be careful not to step on the dog under the table, and don't worry about the rain running out of the light sockets in the entry way, it's all fine!  Grandma was known for her large garden, milking cows, raising chickens and turkeys, she supplied many of the neighbors with eggs, milk, and cream.  From the cream she would make butter, churning the butter churn by hand.  In the winter months she enjoyed sewing, making most of her own dresses with her pedal sewing machine. She was a perfectionist making beautiful leather work, but didn't do it often.  Growing up in the 30's and 40's, you saved everything and didn't throw anything away.  They butchered their own beef, chickens, and canned everything you could think of.  Ernestine never had a driver's license, as far as she would drive was to the garden.  Grandma took pride in her large garden and her yard with many beautiful flowers and lilac trees.  All the neighbors remember Grandma's coal stove, it kept the house warm and food on the table.

As the years went by, the weather took its toll on the house, the coal stove for warmth turned into a propane tank heater in the kitchen, and somehow the house didn't blow up!  Along with electric cords running to the basement for a heat lamp on top of the water pressure tank, once again the house stood strong.  It was considered a privilege by many to eat dinner at Ernestine's house, boy was she a good cook!  She made sure you had a full belly, served a large meal, and made sure you had desert.  If you left the ranch without eating, she felt offended.  Grandma cooked and stayed on the ranch until July 2015, when she moved to the Good Samaritan Society in Mott, ND.  Ernestine is the last of her 4 siblings to pass away.

Survived by her niece, Linda Lucke, Chanute, KS, two grandchildren, Robyn Miller (Steve) Schweitzer, Isabel, SD, Vern (Taye) Miller Spokane, WA.  Great Grandchildren, Nicole (Perry) Peichoto, Spokane, WA and Heather Miller, Spokane WA.  Great, great Grandchildren, Grace, Beau, & Eve Peichoto.

She was preceded in death by parents, husband Gottlieb on July 28, 2008; son Sidney Miller on December 2, 2016; and siblings, Floyd Paul, Ruby Grummel and Myrtle Collyar.

Cards can be mailed to Robyn Miller, 13734 SD Hwy 65, Isabel, SD  57633.