Joseph Miller

Joseph Eugene “Joe” Miller, Jr. of Startown (Newton) NC passed away on August 15, 2023 at
the age of 65. He was born on July 15, 1958 to the late Joseph E. “Gene” and Mary Frances
Miller in Charlotte, NC and moved to Fayetteville, NC at around seven years of age, considering
that his hometown no matter where the rest of his life took him.

After graduating from E. E. Smith Senior High School in 1976 he entered the United States Navy
where he served four years as an avionics technician at both NAS Jacksonville in Florida and
NAS Memphis in Tennessee. Following his service to our country Joe decided to attend college
at Western Carolina University graduating with a degree in Industrial Technology.

He was hired shortly after graduation by General Motors, overseeing the maintenance of much
of the machinery at an engine plant in Tonawanda, NY where he met several of his close friends
to this day and became a Buffalo Bills fan. After leaving GM Joe moved back to Fayetteville,
then Statesville, and finally Startown holding maintenance technician positions at several firms,
finally retiring from Commscope in 2022 due to medical reasons.

Joe had many passions in life but probably none more so than his love of a true American
classic…the Harley Davidson motorcycle. He owned several through the years from the Softail
to the Fat Bob to the Street Glide (among others), finally settling on a Tri Glide Ultra in his later
years. His love of riding these machines and meeting others who loved them too gave him his
greatest joy and took him to some of the most beautiful parts of the country that he spent part
of his life helping to defend. He was a Lifetime Member of the Harley Owners Group as well as a
member of the Patriot Guard Riders, an organization with the mission of honoring fallen service
members by carrying flags on their motorcycles and standing up for them and their families at
funerals and burials. Joe was known to most of his Harley friends as “Mingo”.

He also enjoyed keeping his mind sharp, going back to school to get his MBA from Gardner-
Webb University many years after leaving GM. He especially liked searching for and finding
mistakes in his textbooks and bringing them to the attention of his professors, actually getting
paid a few times by the publishers for his efforts.

Joe is survived by his only sibling Bill Miller (Nancy) of Seneca, SC, nephews Will Miller (Morgan)
of Powdersville, SC and Matthew Miller of Seneca as well as great nephew Jackson Miller and
great niece Harper Miller, both of Powdersville. He of course had many, many friends because
there was no one that ever met Joe that didn’t realize immediately that he was a great
individual and one of a kind.

A Celebration of Life for Joe will be held at a later date prior to the interment of his ashes in
Cumberland Memorial Gardens in Fayetteville.

If you wish to honor Joe you may do so by making a donation to the Patriot Guard Riders at
www.patriotguard.org and click on the Donate tab and then Tribute Donation.