Thomas Miller Jr.

Thomas Jefferson "T.J." Miller Jr., 98, formerly of Marble Hill, Missouri, passed away Tuesday, July 13, 2021, at the Missouri Veterans Home in Cape Girardeau.

T.J. was born March 15, 1923, at Grassy Creek, Missouri, in western Bollinger County to Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" and Ruth Ellen Perkins Miller. As a child, he attended Burke School on Castor River, later graduating from Lutesville (Missouri) High School in 1942.

He worked on the family farm until he was drafted into the Army Air Corps on Jan. 23, 1943. After completion of initial training and schools in St. Petersburg, Florida, and Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, he was assigned to the 84th Fighter Wing as a clerk with radio training. He was transported on the Queen Mary to England in order to join his unit in Scotland. Debarking at Utah Beach in Normandy, France, shortly after the initial D-Day invasion, he performed duties with his unit in northern France, Belgium, Maastricht, Holland, and Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. On Oct. 10, 1945, Sgt. Miller was separated from the Army Air Corps at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, and returned to the family farm at Grassy, Missouri.

While home on leave, T.J. and Mildred Grindstaff were married at Jackson on Oct. 28, 1943. The couple took up residence in Lutesville after World War II before moving to St. Louis, where he worked for Lincoln-Mercury. They later returned to the Hahn, Missouri, area and bought a general store, where T.J. was appointed the postmaster for Hahn. Their first three children -- Judy, Richard and Elizabeth -- were born while the Millers lived in the Zalma, Missouri, area. In October 1950, they settled at Grassy, where they bought a farm and a grocery and feed store, re-naming it Miller's Store. The store also housed the Grassy Post Office for several decades. Their fourth child, Myra Kay, was born after the family moved to Grassy.

M&G Gas Company was formed in 1961 by Mildred and T.J. and is still owned and operated by the Miller family. T.J. later went on to found MO-KITA Distributing in 1979, which is still in operation today. They lived at Grassy until 1980, when they moved to Marble Hill.

T.J. was a past worthy patron of Victory Chapter No. 431 Order of the Eastern Star at Marble Hill. He was a 73-year member of Zalma Masonic Lodge No. 545, 50-year Scottish Rite member of the Valley of St. Louis and 50-year member of Moolah Shriners in St. Louis. T.J. was the last surviving charter member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5900 in Marble Hill.

Survivors include his children, Judy Carolyn Rhodes of Marble Hill; Richard Alan Miller of Cherokee Pass, Missouri; Elizabeth Ann (Terry) Durham of Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Myra Kay (Rick) Underwood of Marble Hill; six grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren and six great-great-grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Mildred; siblings, Frieda and Buford; and granddaughter, Kerri.

T.J. was a caring, loving husband, father and grandfather, as well as a philanthropist and loyal friend to many people.

Visitation will be from 4 to 8 p.m. today at Hutchings Funeral Chapel in Marble Hill.

Funeral service will be at 1 p.m. Saturday at the funeral home. Burial with military honors will follow at Baker Cemetery with grandsons and great-grandsons serving as pallbearers.