It is with broken hearts that we announce the peaceful passing of VALERIE “VAL” MARGARET LYNNE MILLER, (née McLean), of Milk River, AB, who left us on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at the age of 64 years. She was a dedicated mother, grandmother, sister, aunt, wife, and partner whose relentless generosity, kindness, love, patience, and strength will be deeply missed by all who knew her.

Val is survived by her children: Jeralyn (Paul) Goldsmith, Tyson Miller, Kale (Megan) Miller, and Zachary (Shannon) Miller; her grandchildren: Payden, Harper, Emmett, Adair, Piper, Wade, Ashton, and Levi; siblings: Deborah McLean, Kenneth McLean, David (Carrie) McLean, Glenn (Dana) McLean, and Kim McLean-Fiander; her in-laws: Ken (Carol) Miller, Marilyn (Jean) Bouchard, and Carol (Harold) Johansen; numerous nieces and nephews (including the ever-helpful Elise), her partner (Archie Clampett), and a wide circle of friends (including Colene and Gayna) who will remember her for her generosity, thoughtfulness, and loving spirit.

She was preceded in death by her husband of nearly forty years, Gordon Miller; her sisters-in-law, Mary Miller and Joanne McLean; her mother, Ailsa Fiander-Morris; and her stepfathers, Robert Fiander and Steve Morris.

Born on June 26, 1960, in Montreal, Quebec, Val was the second eldest of six children born to Ailsa (née Macreadie) Fiander-Morris. Throughout her childhood in Quebec, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, Val exhibited an innate kindness and sense of caring for her siblings, pets, and friends. She was good-naturedly teased by her brothers and sisters for being so sentimental, even tearing up when she watched kittens frolicking in a tv ad for toilet paper!

After her family moved to Milk River, Val completed grade 12 at Erle Rivers High School. She always knew she wanted to be a mother and, after studying Rehabilitation Medicine at Lethbridge Community College, working as a bank teller and as a dental assistant, she married Gordon Miller in 1981, moved to the farm, and started having babies. Having grown up mostly in cities, Val learned the ropes of being a farm wife from her mother-in-law, Corky, and sister-in-law, Mary, and quickly caught on to the routine of constantly cooking meals, moving trucks, doing books, and driving to the city for parts, all while providing a warm, loving, and inviting home for her children, friends, and extended family. She also learned very swiftly the importance of volunteering in a small town, offering to co-host countless wedding and baby showers for community members throughout the years. All the generosity and goodness she so willingly doled out came back to her in the form of incredible community support when her family farmhouse tragically burned to the ground in 1997.

After building her beautiful new home, “the farm” became the social hub for holiday feasts and family occasions. If Val had a dollar for every potato she peeled or every load of laundry she did in those years, she’d have died a zillionaire. She learned all about combines, augers, cows, and 4-H during the busy years of raising her four children, yet somehow managed to pursue some of her own interests in singing, sewing quilts, and collecting angels and Christmas decorations.

When her kids were mostly raised, Val returned to college to pursue nursing, something she ended up doing alongside her daughter Jeralyn. After graduating as an LPN, Val worked in various nursing capacities in Milk River and Lethbridge (including teaching nurses at Lethbridge College), while continuing to help run the family farm. All that training came in handy when her husband Gord’s health declined, and she devotedly took care of him in his final years.

After Gord passed, Val built her dream home in town, with its stylish interior décor and gorgeous view of the Sweetgrass Hills. Eventually, Val met her partner Archie, and they enjoyed a few good years together, travelling to places like Germany, Hungary, Mexico, Vegas, and Victoria. After her cancer diagnosis in 2023, Val refused to let go of one of her big dreams, so, in between chemo treatments last November, she took all her children and grandchildren to Disneyland for a fantastic and memorable family holiday.
In her final hours, Val was surrounded by so much love, with all her siblings, children, grandchildren, special nieces and nephews, and close friends keeping a constant bedside vigil and letting her know that her beautiful and generous spirit will live on in the hearts of all who loved her. She will always be remembered as someone who made the world brighter just by being in it, and her legacy of love, compassion, and joy will continue to inspire all who knew her.

A Prayer Vigil will be held at CORNERSTONE FUNERAL HOME, 2825 – 32 Street South, Lethbridge, AB, on Friday, April 4, 2025 at 5:00 P.M. with Deacon Jim Manzara officiating.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at ST. PETER’S CATHOLIC CHURCH, 301 Main Street NW, Milk River, AB, on Saturday, April 5, 2025 at 11:00 A.M. with Father Pawel Andrasz O.M.I. celebrating.

Following the Funeral Mass, Val will be laid to rest in the Milk River Cemetery.

After the Interment, friends and family are invited to come together at the Milk River Civic Centre to celebrate Valerie’s life and share memories of the incredible woman she was. Val loved the colour hot pink, so if you would like to honour her by wearing pink clothes, accessories, or fingernails, we know she would love that.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in her honour to the Milk River Health Centre Continuing Care (Long-Term Care), Box 90, Milk River, AB, T0K 1M0, Operation Smile Canada (operationsmile.ca), or the Canadian Cancer Society (cancer.ca)

Rest in peace, dear Valerie. You were taken too soon and will be forever missed.

 

To send a condolence, please visit www.cornerstonefuneralhome.com

• Date : 2025-03-30
• Location : Milk River, Alberta