Delephine L. Miller's Obituary
Delephine Miller was born to Richard Smiley and Sally (Smiley) Ellis in Waxahachie, Texas April 22, 1935. She later moved to San Diego, California around the age of eight, where she attended Stockton Elementary, Memorial Junior High and graduated from San Diego High where she was actively involved in the Girls Athletic Association, The Letterman’s Club, she was a PTA Student Rep and a tennis player.She planned to go to school to become a nurse. She attended City College, earning her certificate as a Lab Technician and worked for a limited time in this field. She accepted the Lord in 1984 and was an active member of Encanto Southern Baptist Church where she was involved in WMU Outreach, the choir ensemble, women’s Sunday school class, trustee of the Food Bank providing food for the underserved and ministered to women prisoners. She also served as a delegate for the Southern Baptist Convention. She cooked for church functions and was famous for her cabbage dish, hot water cornbread and her famous chili beans, which all of us loved. She enjoyed sewing, singing, sending cards, doing crossword puzzles and reading. She was divorced and a single parent for many years. She ruled with an iron fist and taught us children to respect our elders and was very protective of her children as we were growing up. She then met Harold Miller, whom she later married, and they were together for forty-eight years before he preceded her in death September 24, 2018.Having nine children had its challenges but we made it work… she taught us how to cook and sew and the kids in the neighborhood gathered at our house. We all want to share our fondest memories of our mother:Andrea (aka ‘Pebbles’) memory of Mom was when she was going to kindergarten, she knew Mom was going to leave her…. So, she decided to wrap her arms around Mom’s leg and wouldn’t let go. The teacher distracted her with a toy so Mom could leave. Mom later gave her the scripture Psalms 91 to read when she got older, to comfort her in difficult times.Donald Ray, the speedster, decided he was going to run away from home….he had the whole entire family looking for him and Mom was worried… so our brother Darrell decided to look underneath the house where he saw two sets of eyes looking at him: Donald and our dog Tuffy. Ardie remembers washing Mom’s hair; she loved getting her scalp massaged and her feet manicured. Dad took off his shoes and said, “I’m next.”Roslyn remembers Mom saying she had a smile that she loved and that makes her personality shine. Diane recalls a time when she was disobedient and asked Mom to forgive her… Mom told her she was forgiven and that she has placed us all in God’s hands.Cheryl was going thru a struggle with life issues with nowhere to turn. She swallowed her pride and asked Mom if she could come home. Mom allowed her to come back… She was appreciative of the love Mom showed her in her troubled time.Darrell (deceased) was the comedian. Mom told him along with the rest of us to “stop making all that noise.” This particular day he and our sister Cheryl decided to act as if they were Africans and when they kept making noises like a tribe, Mom came up from behind and hit Darrell with the belt and startled him. He screamed, turned around and saw Mom. She fell out laughing at his surprised look and so did the rest of us, the Flenoid clan.Dell Ann, who is also the comedian in the family, would always call Mom and say, “woman, woman, what you doing, woman?” and just the way she said this would make Mom laugh.Donna remembers her fondest moment: “When I left Fontana after an abusive marriage, stress was high, I came through the door and my sister helped put my things in the garage. Mom had already went to bed… I said to God, ‘I want my mama…’ I went to bed and about 1:00am Mom came downstairs, called my name and when she did, she felt my pain and I felt her love.”Mom’s sickness caused us to reflect on what it means to honor your parents… it was difficult to see her in the state she was in… but through God’s guidance He gave us faith in the power of prayer to honor her in ways that caused us to love her deeper than we had ever known and we saw the hand of God on her despite her illness… she smiled and looked at her children when we all came to see her… she smiled and laughed when we said funny things to her.She stayed strong for us because we were not ready to let her go… but God granted the Flenoid clan grace, mercy, and love for Mom past our own understanding. Nothing takes the place of a mother’s love even when there are differences. Our growth was love and faith in the Lord for our mother. If your parents are still with you, please honor them and show them love. Mom will be greatly missed by us – her children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, brother, sister and friends.Delephine Miller was preceded in death by son Darrell Flenoid, stepson Warren Miller, sister Hattie Mae Ellis and mom Sally Ellis, husband Harold Miller and sister Fayetta. She leaves behind her children eldest to youngest, Dell Ann Flenoid, Donna Dillon, Cheryl Flenoid, Diane Williams, Roslyn Hutchinson, Ardie Laster, Donald Flenoid, Andrea Flenoid, and stepson Steve Miller, 60-plus grandchildren and great grandchildren and a host of nieces and nephews.
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