Obituary of Lura Montez Miller

Lura Montez “Monty” Miller, nee Reitz, died peacefully after a short illness on June 2, 2014. Monty was born to Twila and George Reitz in Bremerton, Washington, on January 20, 1934. Monty had fond memories of Olympia’s rugged undeveloped waterfront along today’s Eastbay Drive where one of her childhood homes sat atop a pier over Eld Inlet, and tales of wartime Bremerton, where she awaited her father’s return from the Pacific. She had fond high school memories of living in Bremerton and traipsing on the sodden trails of the southern Olympics with friends. After high school, Monty attended William and Mary College for a year before moving to West Germany, where she attended the University of Heidelberg and worked as a clerk for ICORE. In Heidelberg, she married a hometown acquaintance, Ron Miller. They later returned to Bremerton, where they raised four children; they divorced in 1979. In the early 1970s, Monty graduated from The Evergreen State College, and then later earned a Master’s in Psychology from Antioch University. Monty worked as a volunteer coordinator for the Kitsap Crisis Clinic, for the Department of Corrections, at the Washington State Library, and was a loving caregiver for her disabled father. Monty was a ferocious reader, and a connoisseur of bad jokes, limericks, and bawdy songs from a lost age. She was a doer of crosswords, a crack copyeditor, corrector of misspoken speech and misspelt words, and a reciter of rules of etiquette. She was a knower of obscure trivia. She cared about grammar and the intricacies of pronunciation. Back in the age of print, she was a spirited writer of letters to the editor, and cherished her exchanges with Mike Mailway, Miss Manners, Marilyn vos Savant, Edwin Newman and other columnists. She raised her children while singing Tom Lehrer, reciting Edward Lear and giving them all a love of cats. Monty enjoyed a reputation as a unique cook, and her food creations were often memorable, sometimes because they were successful. She was someone you were lucky to have known, a freethinking and independent woman, and a colorful person who made impressions on many. She is survived by four children, Dan (Kristina) Miller of Rainier, Midge (David) Price of Olympia, Derryl (Tammy) Miller of Auburn, and Jamie (James) Norton of Acton, Massachusetts; and eight grandchildren, Annalise Duerr-Miller, Elizabeth Miller, Milo Price, Parker Miller, Nora Price, Madison Miller, Christopher Norton and David Norton. She has two great-grandsons. She was preceded in death by two grandchildren, Steven Miller and Derek Miller. The family requests that anyone wishing to make a donation in memory of Monty make a donation in her name to Doctors Without Borders. Please leave memories of Monty or condolences for her family in the Guestbook below.