Jeanne Pettis Miller, the daughter of two faithful Seventh-day Adventist workers, consecrated herself at an early age to becoming a lifetime church schoolteacher.
Jeanne taught in multi-grade Seventh-day Adventist classrooms for nearly 40 years. She was a conscientious teacher and caring confidante to all who knew her. Her students loved to surprise her with return visits and updates on their adult life.
After retirement in 2005, she served as church secretary/office manager as well as church librarian, while continuing to pursue her love of music after teaching the piano for many years and playing the organ at church. Public church-sponsored health seminars and cooking schools found her actively assisting wherever needed. But no matter how busy she was, she still began and ended each day on her knees, committing her life to God.
Memorizing Scripture and studying Ellen G. White’s writings were lifelong hobbies. Her goal beyond personal spiritual growth was to be able “to give an answer to everyone that asketh you a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15) She memorized many Bible chapters and the entire book of James, and she taught her three children where to find God’s answers to life’s tough questions.
She was a faithful and consistent giver of tithes and offerings and supported as many mission projects as she could. When she moved to Arkansas in 2014 to live with her daughter, she found it necessary to cut back on giving. But as she trusted her finances to God, He preserved a residue in her estate for Adventist World Radio.
When physical challenges and dementia necessitated 24-hour care, Jeanne returned to Tennessee, where she was cared for at the Harbert Hills Academy Nursing Home. She loved the Adventist environment, and believed she was still a “busy teacher” tending her precious flock of nursing home residents and academy student workers. Jeanne passed away quietly—at peace with Jesus—on March 26, 2022.
Her final gift to AWR will help build a church school for the former rebels in Mindoro, Philippines, in accordance with her life of service in Seventh-day Adventist education.
If you, like Jeanne Miller, wish to extend your ministry beyond your lifetime through a Christian estate plan, please contact Bill Hay or Jeff Wilson for no-cost estate planning assistance. Simply email [email protected] or call 1-800-337-4297.
By Holly Joers and Jeff Wilson
