Born: Sept. 5, 1946
Died: July 16, 2013

Mrs. Dovie Jean (Mayo) Miller, who resided on North Phillip Road, Niles, passed from this life on Tuesday, July 16, 2013, at Memorial Hospital, South Bend, Ind.

Dovie’s life began on Sept. 5, 1946, in Portageville, Mo., when she was born to the union of Aron and Pearline (Lauderdale) Mayo.  The family relocated to Niles in 1948, coming from Portageville.

Dovie graduated from Brandywine High School in 1964. She attended Grand Valley College in Grand Rapids, Lake Michigan College, Southwestern College and Western Michigan College, ultimately receiving an associate’s degree in business.

On May 7, 1965, in Niles, Dovie and Willie J. Miller were united in marriage.

Dovie’s employment  included working as a wire sales representative for National Standard; receptionist for Simplicity, secretary for the Teamsters Union and secretary for I & M Electric Company.  She also was a notary public and was a member of the Niles Township Board of Trustees.

Among her passions were sending greeting cards to her loved ones; doing church work; cooking; baking; sewing; and dealing with her women in hats, which prompted her to organize “100 Women in Hats.”  As a lifetime member of Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church in Niles, she formerly served as church secretary, announcing clerk, trustee and choir member under Pastor Fletcher McAfee.

Loving family members who survive include her husband, Willie J. Miller; one daughter, Sherri (Pastor Michael) Bush, Niles; two grandchildren, Brittnye Miller-Bush and Michael Bush; four sisters, Charity Bibbs, Lillie (Norward) Miller, Rosie (Ben Richard) Croom and CreAnne (Charles) Mwale, all of Niles; two brothers, Hillary Augustus, of Niles, and Henry James (Ruthie) Mayo, of Buchanan; her godmother, Lena Poindexter, of South Bend, Ind.; two special godchildren, Caren Bishop and Andre Love Jr.,  along with several other godchildren, other relatives and friends.

Family members who preceded her in death were her parents, Aron and Pearline Mayo; sisters, Teretha Morgan, Doris Evans, Virginia Moore and Clara Ann Bluitt.

Funeral services for Mrs. Dovie Miller will be held at noon, Wednesday, July 24, 2013, at Mount Calvary Church, 601 Ferry St., Niles, where the Pastor is Reverend Bryant L. Bacon.
Interment will follow in Mission Hills Cemetery, Niles. Friends may call at the church one hour prior to the service.  Arrangements have been entrusted to Alford’s Mortuary, South Bend, Ind.

The Miller family requests that friends and well wishers who desire to purchase flowers do so thru The Flower Cart located at 1124 North Fifth St. in Niles, MI. (269) 683-5454.
To leave an online condolence, please visit our webpage at www.alfordsmortuaryinc.com.