Earl W. Miller (Plainview)

Earl W. Miller, 89, formerly of Plainview, passed away on Saturday, June 13, 2015 in Bryan, Texas. Funeral services will be held Tuesday, June 23 at 10 am in Harral Memorial Auditorium on the campus of Wayland Baptist University. Visitation will be Monday, June 22 from 4 - 6 pm at Kornerstone Funeral Directors, 3605 SW 3rd Street, Plainview. A visitation will also be from 9 - 9:45 in the Earl W. Miller Recital Hall immediately before the funeral on June 23. Earl was born June 11, 1926 in Alexandria, Louisiana to Earl Felix and Monnie Belle (McDaniel) Miller. He graduated from Bolton High School in 1943 and received a BA in Psychology with a minor in Spanish from Louisiana College in 1946. Because of his music studies and accomplishments, including winning the Caudell Cup for piano performance in 1944, many thought he was a music major. He went on to Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary to earn a BSM in 1949 and an MSM in 1950. He spent the summer of 1950 touring Japan and playing the piano for religious meetings with Youth for Christ. Earl and his wife Lucile moved from Dallas to Plainview in 1957 when he joined the faculty of Wayland Baptist College, now Wayland Baptist University. He taught organ, piano, music appreciation, directed the Wayland Handbell Ringers, and served as university organist. During the summers, the family traveled with him while he earned credit hours in music and organ through various workshops at SMU, University of Kansas, Colorado State University, University of Oklahoma, North Texas State University, and Arizona State University. He retired from Wayland in 1994. Upon his retirement, the recital hall in the Music Wing was named the Earl W. Miller Recital Hall and he was made University Organist Emeritus. Earl served as Organist at Evans Ave Baptist Church, Fort Worth; First Baptist Church, Dallas; and First Baptist Church, Plainview. He was Organist/Director at First United Methodist Church in Hale Center, and Organist/Choirmaster at St Mark’s Episcopal Church in Plainview. He was also organist for several Texas and Southern Baptist Convention meetings in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He published a series of articles on the organ which appeared in “The Church Musician.” In the 1970’s he conducted workshops in organ and handbells during Music Week at Glorieta, NM. Earl and Lucile traveled with several organ study tours to Europe where Earl played organs in France, England, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, and Switzerland. He also studied at Matlock College of Education in Matlock, England, and with Walter Kraft in Lübeck, Germany. Earl was active in the American Guild of Organists and played organ dedication recitals in various churches in West Texas and Louisiana. He served on the Plainview Community Concerts Board of Directors, the Plainview Symphony Board of Directors, and on the Plainview Cultural Arts Council. He received the Silver Star Award from the Plainview Cultural Arts Council in 2002. Earl enjoyed traveling, good-natured teasing and jokes, keeping up with friends through email, watching Wayland events and athletics on-line, tracking the weather, Andy Griffith, I Love Lucy, and he loved cats. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Lucile Shults Miller of Bryan, and his daughter, Elizabeth Ann (Liz) Lawson and husband Hank of College Station. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Wayland Baptist University, 1900 W 7th, Box 1295, Plainview, Tx 79072, memo: Earl & Lucile Miller Endowed Scholarship.