Mercer Dean Miller, Jr., 60, beloved husband of Laura Lewis Miller, went home to Heaven to be in the arms of Jesus on Thursday, July 12, 2007, after a long and courageous battle with cancer. Born on June 7, 1947, the son of the late Mercer Dean Miller, Sr. and the late Carolyn Thompson Miller of East Point, GA, Mercer graduated from Russell High School in 1965, the University of Georgia in 1969 and served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War.
He was a public health sanitarian in Thomson, GA, in the mid- 1970's. An employee of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1984 to the present, he was the Senior Electrician at the Richard B. Russell Power Plant, here in Elberton.
Mercer was a long time member of the Elberton First United Methodist Church, where he served as a Church Lay Leader and was a Certified United Methodist Lay Speaker. He served on a variety of committees in his position as Lay Leader of the Church. He will be remembered by his family and MANY friends as a devoted Christian, who often led Sunday worship services at a, variety of churches in Elbert and surrounding counties.
He is survived by his wife, Laura Lewis Miller; their daughter and son-in-law, Beth and David Harris of Knoxville, TN; their son, Tom Miller and his fiancée Suzanne Caster of Marietta, GA; grandsons, Hunter and Samuel Harris of Knoxville, TN; and his sister, Linda Miller of Atlanta, GA; sisters-and brothers-in-law are Mary Nell and Jack Campbell of Oak Ridge, TN, and Krista and Jeffrey Harden of Pensacola, FL.
A memorial service was held at the Elberton First United Methodist Church on Saturday, July 14, 2007, at 11:00 a.m. in the church sanctuary with Dr. Wallace Wheeles and Rev. Wayne Smith officiating. A celebration of his life was held in the church fellowship hall, in lieu of visitation. Many of Mercer's friends have stated that the highlight of the celebration was a vignette of his life, which was prepared totally by his children, son-in-law and future daughter-in-law.
Having planned his service himself, Mercer had requested that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Building Fund of the Elberton First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 398, Elberton, GA, 30635.