Former resident Clint Miller was on 1952 state championship team

Former Wrangell resident Clint Owen Miller, 87, died April 27 in Sitka.

He was born on Nov. 16, 1935, in Hutton Valley, Missouri, to Stanton Miller and Eva (Williams) Miller. His family lived in Missouri and moved to the shipyards near Portland during World War II, then to logging camps in Idaho after the war, finally settling in Wrangell.

Clint grew up in Wrangell, attending school and graduating from high school. As a freshman, he played center for the team that beat West Anchorage for the 1952 Alaska State Basketball Championship, "an honor for which he is remembered in Wrangell still," his family wrote. In 2002, Clint returned to Wrangell for a 50-year reunion of the championship team. "Wrangell had a special spot in Clint's heart, as he would return to visit his parents and friends and to take his kids moose hunting and fishing at the family cabin up Elbow Slough on the Stikine River."

After high school, Clint worked construction and had the opportunity to train in Juneau to become a powderman. With his blasters license, he got a job offer to come to Sitka to work on the original Blue Lake Dam project. He was on the next flight and Sitka became his home. In 1960, he married Marina Panamarkoff in St. Michaels Cathedral.

Following work on the dam, Clint worked for Standard Oil, was public works foreman for the City of Sitka, and retired in 1991 as the highway maintenance foreman for the state Department of Transportation. "Clint's work, work ethic and commitment to keeping Sitka's highways safe was beyond measure."

After a few years of retirement, Clint decided to go back to work. He bought, owned and operated Southeast Tree Service. After several years, he retired again. In 2018, after experiencing increasing dementia symptoms, Clint moved into the Sitka Pioneer home until his hospital admission in late March. "Clint was strong until the end and passed away peacefully with family at his side."

Some of Clint's best times included traveling with his family, fishing for sockeye salmon and smoking and jarring his prized fish, woodcutting, and any activity that allowed him to help others.

Clint is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marina (Panamarkoff) Miller; children Mary Miller, Mike Miller and Kathy (Steve) Miller; his cherished grandchildren Mashaya Sulser and Taylor Huddleson; and numerous nieces and nephews. Also surviving include special friends he adopted as family: Sandra Moller, Elizabeth Samson, Abby Forrester, Maria Estela Hernández De la Torre Johnson and countless others including his granddaughter Mashaya's buddies.

Clint is proceeded in death by his parents and two brothers, Norman Dale Miller and Robert Darrell Miller. Condolences can be sent to the Miller family, PO Box 2995, Sitka, AK. 99835.