Howard’s Obituary
Howard John Miller- 9/26/1951-9/24/2022
It is with great sadness that we announce the sudden death of Howard Miller aged 70 of Widewater, on
September 24, 2022 in Slave Lake. Howard is survived by his wife of 40 years Linda, his mother Gladys,
his brother David (Deborah), his sister Joanne (Bob) and several nieces and nephews. He was
predeceased by his Father Max Howard, and his sister Teresa.
Howard was born in Calgary. His love for music began with taking drum lessons at the age of 5 and he
played with several marching, rock and dance bands. He also taught drums at a local music store and
school. His work as a drummer in Calgary paid for his university education. As a child, Howard was
fascinated by the space travel. He even wrote to NASA in junior high. They thought he was a teacher and
sent him posters and lesson plans. He started taking Engineering in university with hopes of joining the
space industry, but soon learned that English, Linguistics and teaching were his passions. Howard
graduated with a BEd from the University of Calgary in 1973. He took his first teaching job in Peerless
Lake. From there he went to Manning where he was persuaded to try to resurrect the band program even
though he had no course work in band or music. Every weekend in that first year he took home an
instrument to learn how to play so he could teach his students. The hard work paid off and in 1981 the
Band of Rosary/ Paul Rowe Schools was awarded Alberta Community Band of the Year. It was also in
Manning where he met his wife Linda. Howard and Linda went on to teach in Whitehorse, Whitecourt,
and Nanton and ended his career at St. Mary of the Lake, Slave Lake. His school bands earned over a
hundred Local, National, and International Gold and Silver awards. In Nanton he won a prestigious
Provincial Excellence in Teaching Award. He often said “I teach kids, not music” and was passionate
about helping kids whether it was in Band, English or Social Studies. His students recognized this passion
and enjoyed having him as their teacher.
Howard never did anything half way and was a lifelong learner. He worked his way down to a 2 handicap
in golf and learned how to build custom golf clubs. He was an avid reader. Before the 2011 fire he had 8
bookshelves filled with fiction, scifi, philosophy and psychology. Howard loved to discuss philosophy
with friends and family. In his retirement he continued to voraciously read and listen to music on his high
end stereo. He also enjoyed spending time in the basement with his customized golf simulator, pool table,
dart board, and of course, playing the drums.
At his request there will be no service.
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Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of Howard Miller 2022..
Chapel of Memories Funeral Homes & Crematorium
Death notice for the town of: Slave Lake, Province: Alberta