Jim Miller-Melberg Family History

 GRANDFATHER - CLAUS MILLER

In March of 1887, Claës Reinhold Mellberg (1865-1925) made his way from Östergötland, Sweden to Glasgow, Scotland where he would board the steam ship “S.S. State of Nebraska” on a voyage to the New World. He was 21 years old and travelling alone, certainly anxious and hopeful for what awaited him. The Swedish emigration authorities had classified his occupation as “dräng” or “peasant,” so he had nowhere to go but up. On the other side of the Atlantic, Claës Reinhold Mellberg would settle in Minnesota, meet and marry Emma Ekstrom, have a long career as a railroad foreman, and raise four children. 

Claus and Emma Miller

Some of the triumphs and tragedies of his descendants he could never have imagined. One of his grandsons would perish in a crash of a flying machine not yet invented. Another would fill the new world with turtles and climbing walls and new kinds of art not yet dreamed of. As many immigrants did after their arrival, Mellberg Americanized his name, choosing “Claus Miller.” Many decades later, his grandson Jim Miller decided (for his professional name) to restore “Melberg” to his last name with a hyphen to honor his Grandfather and other ancestors.

FATHER - MARTIN MILLER

Claus Miller’s son Martin (1900-1987) moved from Minnesota to Michigan in 1932 and after some some time working at pattern shops he opened the Miller Pattern Company at 29229 Northwestern Highway in Southfield. The company made wood and metal patterns for architectural projects as well as foundries and shops in the Detroit area. To Jim Miller, his Dad was a skilled “genius” that he could never hope to equal.

Martin Miller in His Shop (Courtesy Joe Minton)

Martin’s son Jim started learning and helping in the shop beginning at age seven. Jim Miller worked in the shop as a teenager as an apprentice and became a journeyman pattern maker, working with wood, metal, and wax. Jim Miller credits his father with helping him develop skills that he would use throughout his later career as a sculptor.

I acquired skills that became invaluable in making cast metal sculptures and designing and building the complicated mold systems for the precast concrete sculptures of my design.

MOTHER - JENNIE MILLER

Jennie Miller (Courtesy of Joe Minton)

Jim Miller’s mother Jennie Lindfors Miller was a positive force in his life and a cause for heartbreak as she died young of a cerebral hemorrhage when Jim was only 17. Inspired by her father’s own love of painting, Jennie encouraged her children to draw and paint, and Jim credits her as a major influence in his artistic life. Jennie and Martin lost their daughter Evelyn to pneumonia at the age of one and raised five children, Paul, John, David, James, and Genevieve.

LOST BROTHER - PAUL MILLER

The loss of son Paul Miller (1925-1945) was a tragedy that shook the family and marked the teenage Jim for the rest of his life. Paul served in World War II as a Technical Sergeant Waist Gunner in the 551st Bomb Squadron, 385th Bomb Group, Heavy. He was awarded the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster and a Purple Heart.

Paul Miller

On April 7, 1945, Paul Miller was on a run over Germany aboard a B-17G Flying Fortress with a crew of nine others. Their bomber was rammed from behind by a  Messerschmitt BF-109 Fighter, and Paul’s aircraft crashed at Gifhorn, Germany near Wolfsburg. Paul was buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery in Belgium, leaving his widow Ruth Priest Miller. They had been married two years.

WIFE - SALLY DOW MILLER

The love of Jim Miller’s life was Sally Dow (1930-2007). Her Brooklyn-born mother Dorothy Anderson and Scottish immigrant father John Dow settled in Royal Oak, MI to make a living and raise Sally and sister Dorothy. Sally was an adventurous and artistic soul who began playing piano at the age of three and took classical piano training in Paris for six years in the 1950s, running with a crowd of creative and colorful friends. She achieved concert pianist status and nurtured a love of music her whole life.

Sally Dow Miller

Jim and Sally married in 1962, and their house absorbed not one but two grand pianos for her practice and lessons. Friends and family recall Sally as curious and good-natured, talented in the kitchen, generous with her wine-pouring, and sprinkling her language with French phrases. She covered her kitchen cabinets with New Yorker cartoons and doted on the family cats Zeus and Goldentail. She was especially remembered for her caring teaching style:

She was a gifted teacher and taught hundreds of students to play the piano, often simplifying difficult pieces according to their ability. Many of them pursued careers in music and Sally always remained interested in her student’s lives. Sally had a great sense of humor and she was always respectful of everyone.

Sally Dow Miller (Courtesy of Joe Minton)

Many remember the especially affectionate relationship that Jim and Sally enjoyed, a private sphere lived separately from Jim’s professional life. “They were so in love” is a common recollection of the Millers. Jim and Sally were a team in so many ways; they travelled and found adventures, she appeared in his sculpture catalogues and encouraged him, he supported her and made her feel especially dear. 

 

Jim and Sally Miller (Courtesy of Joe Minton)

 

[Sources: Bogart, Hocking, Jurrjens, Minton, Levine, Woo, James E. Miller Obituary, Sally Dow Miller Obituary, Claus Miller, Martin Miller, Jim Miller-Melberg, Paul Miller, “State of Nevada” Ship Manifest, Swedish Emigrant Registry, United States Census Records, Details in Sources Page]