Mary Chick Miller

Mary Chick Miller, 95, died on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, at Harbor Hospice of Beaumont, Texas.  She was born in Ottawa, Illinois, on April 10, 1930, the second of three children born to William and Odella Chick. Mary grew up living in various small towns in Illinois but also spent some of her early years in Chicago. After the death of William in 1943, the family relocated to Pasadena, Texas, in 1945.

While a senior at Pasadena High School in 1947, Mary met Daniel Miller, himself a Pasadena High graduate now fresh out of the service and attending the University of Houston. They married in Pasadena on June 9, 1949.

Over the next decade, Mary gave birth to three sons and was a busy stay-at-home mom. She was very involved in the Lutheran churches the family attended, first in Pasadena, and then in Beaumont, Texas, where they lived from 1965 to 1970. Wherever they lived, Mary and Dan cultivated friendships that would last the rest of their lives.

Mary took some courses at Lamar University and also went to business school, and after moving to Alief, Texas, in 1970, she went to work for Pritchard and Abbott, tax consultants, where she worked for ten years. She had also worked in the engineering office at Champion Paper and Fiber Company from 1948 to 1949.

In 1984, Mary and Dan moved to Bedford, Texas, and in 1987, they began over a decade of cross-country trips during which, in addition to visiting family and friends, Mary conducted family history research and Dan attended model railroad conventions, though eventually, he, too, caught the genealogy bug.

Mary knew quite a lot about her Norwegian Lutheran roots on her mother’s side, the Sampsons and Kittlesons, but very little about her father’s family. Most of her research was done before the advent of the internet, which meant many hours spent in archives, libraries, local courthouses, and even cemeteries, searching for headstones.

After many years of research and writing, Mary published Chick, Hardwick & Related Families (Baltimore, MD: Otter Bay Books, 2009).

In addition to family and friends, Mary also loved reading, language, and the life of the mind, and was a member of Mensa for many years. She liked nothing better than lively conversation over food (preferably kringla, her mother’s fudge, or her niece Melissa’s apple butter) and, of course, coffee.

Dan had died in 2001, so with the publication of her book, Mary sold the house in Bedford and moved to Beaumont in 2010 to be near her son Paul and his wife Heidi, who helped care for her in her waning years.

Mary is predeceased by her parents, Bill and Della Chick; her sister, Betty Grant; her brother, John Chick; and her husband of fifty-two years, Dan Miller.

In addition to Paul and Heidi, she is survived by her sons, Mark (Paula Foye) and John (Stephanie Gladden); her grandchildren, Adam Miller (fiancé Emily Baker-White) and Leah Rodriguez (Ramiro); and her great-grandchildren, Carina and Eliana; as well as a cousin, Norma Dickey; and several nieces and nephews. Mary is also survived by her brother-in-law, Don Miller.

Donations in Mary’s name can be made to the American Cancer Society, P.O. Box 42040, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73123, an organization that Mary herself supported in memory of her husband Dan.

In accordance with Mary’s wishes, there will be no services or calling hours. Final interment will be in the Avinger Cemetery, Avinger, Texas. Cremation arrangements for Mrs. Miller were handled through Broussard’s Crematorium under the direction of Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont.