MILLER, Ann Louise WATSON 1951 - 2012
MILLER, WATSON, ANDERSON, WARD, SNIDER
Posted By: Joey Stark
Date: 11/8/2012 at 12:43:23
"The Fairfield Ledger"
Friday, November 2, 2012
Page 6Ann Louise WATSON MILLER
Ann Louise WATSON MILLER passed away on Tuesday, October 30, 2012 in Kingwood, TX following a brief illness. Ann is a deeply loved wife, mother, sister, and daughter, and her family is so grateful for her loving and beautiful presence in our lives. Ann was the heart of the family and gave each of her family members unconditional love and care.
Ann was born in 1951 in Fargo, ND to Philip and Charlotte WATSON. She grew up in Fargo and graduated from Fargo South High in 1969. Following graduation, Ann attended Cotty College in Missouri for one year and then earned a BS in Education from UND, Grand Forks, ND in 1973. She later completed a Masters degree in Education/Literacy at California State University, Bakersfield, CA.
Her first teaching position took her to Brownsville, TX, and Texas became a second home. Ann's two daughters, Kate (Catherine) and Sarah were born in Brownsville to Ann and her first husband Lawrence (Larry) Johnson MILLER. Ann and her girls continued to live in Brownsville following Larry's death in 1981. On July 12, 1989 Ann married Louis MILLER of Brownsville at a family ceremony in the Shoreham Chapel, on Lake Melissa, MN. The family lived in several locations around the country including Fairfield, IA, Bakersfield, CA, and Terre Haute, IN before returning to Kingwood, TX in 2001.
Ann was a teacher by trade and by heart. She had a passion for helping others discover their own strengths and interests. For the past 14 years, she has been a distance education instructor at Ivy Tech Community College, Terre Haute, IN where she taught developmental reading and student success skills. Previously, she taught elementary school in both Brownsville and Bakersfield, and tutored elementary and college students in reading. She worked as a substitute teacher for school districts in California and Indiana. Ann loved learning, and there was no subject she was not interested in. She was often scribbling ideas on a note pad and researching all her many diverse interests. It would not be unusual for her to research adult learning principles one minute, copywrighting the next, and then on to natural dog shampoos, Vedic architecture, natural medicines and healing techniques, or art projects for the grandchildren. She loved color, gardening, music, art, nature -- and she brought each of those elements into everything she did. Ann shared a love of language with all members of her family, and the written word was often the way she communicated. As she described herself, a laptop and a cup of tea were all she required to explore and talk to the world.
Ann was a deeply spiritual person. She started the Transcendental Meditation technique in the early seventies. The practice was everything she'd been seeking and it quickly became a main part of her life, expanding her life, vision, personal and spiritual pursuits. She was a daily meditator for forty plus years, later becoming a Sidha- the advanced TM technique. In 1987, Ann moved her two daughters, Kate and Sarah, to Fairfield, Iowa, the Transcendental Meditation center of the U.S., in order to give herself and children the experience of being in a spiritual community and surrounded by like minds. Ann's spirit and expanded awareness led her to studying various forms of Ayurvedic cooking and a health life habits (sic), and creating a lifestyle that was both nurturing and nourishing for herself and family. She will be remembered for her elevated thinking, high ideals and expanded awareness, always putting others before herself, reminding her family to love others and be compassionate toward the welfare of others.
Ann's family includes her husband Louis in Kingwood, TX, and her daughters Kate of Bloomington, IN and Sarah of Kingwood, TX. Kate is the mother of Ann's three lively and creative grandsons, Phineas (age 5), and twins Bodhi and Dashiell (age 3). Ann's family also extends to her mother, Charlotte WATSON of Fairfield, IA and siblings Ellen WATSON ANDERSON of Fargo, ND and Stuart WATSON of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Her family circle holds her brother and sisters-in-law Dennis and Mary MILLER of Montgomery, TX and Anna MILLER of Austin, TX. She is the aunt of Ellen's children Paul ANDERSON Washington, DC, Christopher ANDERSON Moorhead, MN, and John ANDERSON Fargo, ND, and of Dennis and Mary's children Christine WARD of San Diego, CA and Brandon MILLER of Montgomery, TX. She is great-aunt of Lillian ANDERSON, Caleb SNIDER, Allison WARD, and Ainsley WARD.
The family will hold a private memorial service for family members and asks that others send their written tributes to be included in a memory book to annisourlove@gmail.com. Ann's family asks that in lieu of flowers, those wishing to make a donation in her name gift one of the following organizations: Literacy Advance of Houston at http://www.literacyadvancehouston.org; Maharishi University of Management at http://www.mum.edu/; or the charity of your choice.
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*Copied verbatim with permission from The Fairfield Ledger, Inc. This material may NOT be copied and re-posted in any public venue such as Ancestry or Find A Grave without permission from The Fairfield Ledger ~ copyright restrictions apply.
*Transcribed for genealogy purposes; I have no relation to the person(s) mentioned.
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