Joan H. Miller

Joan H. Miller    9/29/1938 to 9/17/2018
Joan Heliste, eldest of 4 surviving children to Christine Alt Heliste and Evert Heliste, was the first of her family to win a college degree. Born in Detroit and raised in Southfield, she taught in Michigan for two years before qualifying to teach military dependent children on overseas bases. Her assignments were Tokyo, the Azores, a Paris suburb, and Edwards, CA. Her Asian travels extended from Thailand to the Philippines. Joan studied flower arrangement, made and bought temple rubbings and Japanese prints. Many were given to family and friends. From the Azores and Paris she toured much of Europe and learned much about French culture, ended her skiing career quickly, with an injured Achilles tendon and purchased several lovely oil paintings and a VW ‘bug”.

At Edwards Air Force Base she taught for several years, met and married Capt. Richard Miller in the base chapel on April 1, 1967. They moved to Lancaster, CA where their first child Richard Jr. was born in 1970 just in time to move to Salt Lake City, UT where he joined Hercules Inc. Matthew was born in 1972. Hercules moved the Millers to Wilmington, DE in 1973 where Meagan was born in late 1974. Joan was active in the Newcomers Club in Salt Lake, participating in organizing wine tastings, duplicate bridge and neighborhood gatherings. In Delaware, she used the Hercules Country Club for Children’s swim lessons, where she met other Hercules wives. Her children’s initial school was Corpus Christi. In 1978 came another transfer, to West Chester, OH where the kids attended St. Gabriel School and Joan did a little substitute teaching. Several neighbors with traveling husbands became lifelong friends. One of their jokes, “If your husband has a heart attack, put him in the company car with his brief case to get the ‘at-work’ (full) insurance.”      

The last transfer was to West Chester, PA where Joan spent the last 35 years. There were new schools, St. Agnes and Archmere Academy and many new friends. Joan was teaching preschool in 1996 when a virus caused her heart to stop over a dozen times, but was restarted by shock, over a two day period.  She joined a group of patients with implanted defibrillators and enjoyed several sea cruises with them. Six years later she got the first breast cancer diagnosis. After surgery, chemotherapy, and 5 years of a daily pill, she was said to be cancer-free.  She joined groups (Red Hatters, Prayer Shawl Ministry and an exercise club) where she often comforted people anxious about health issues, including cancer. Joan seemed to know what to say and how to ease their anxiety.  Many came to know her courage, empathy and loving nature.  In early 2016 a painful back led to discovery of metastatic breast cancer. In late 2017 and early 2018, chemotherapy was tried again, without success. She refused further treatment in late May. With abundant faith, she dealt with her situation on her terms, calmly and with quiet courage. 

Joan is survived by two sisters, a brother, her husband, three children, two daughters-in-law, one son-in-law and three grandchildren. 

Relatives and friends are invited to her visitation on Wednesday October 3, 2018 from 9:30-10:30am at the St. Maximilian Kolbe Church 15 E. Pleasant Grove Road West Chester followed by her Funeral Mass at 10:30 AM.