04/17/2026
Lowell Gilbert Miller
1927 ~ 2026
Lowell Gilbert Miller, cherished father, grandfather and husband, passed away April 13, 2026. Lowell was born December 29, 1927 to Harold George Miller and Dorothy Linsley Miller in Salt Lake City, UT. He was the second of three sons.
Lowell attended Hawthorne grade school in Salt Lake. His mom would send him off to school and occasionally, would later hear him hammering in the backyard. He was interested in building, not school. He ended up flunking first grade. Since he was behind in school he studied 4th grade class work in the summer and was able to skip 4th grade.
In 1936 they moved to a 40 acre farm in Southeastern Idaho. Lowell’s job was to cut kindling for the wood stove. Later, his dad got into the dairy business. He and his 2 brothers had to get up early to milk the cows, feed the cattle and chickens. These chores had to be done before walking to school each day.
He attended Ucon High School for 2 years, then later transferred to Idaho Falls High School because they had more math, physics, agricultural, and machine shop classes. During high school he was in the Future Farmers of America and purchased a registered Duroc piglet. When he graduated from high school they hauled all 34 pigs to the market.
Lowell heard about an electronics school in the Navy. He took an exam and passed. He served 2 years in the Navy to get that schooling. He attended boot camp and his first electronic school at Green Bay Naval Station in Wisconsin. Then he was sent to Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay for another electronics school. He then shipped out to Pearl Harbor Submarine Base.
His favorite time at the base was keeping the amateur radio station working. One of his jobs was to refurbish submarine batteries. He would drain the acid, remove the core, clean the cases and replace the cores. Filling the batteries with acid was tricky. It had a habit of sloshing around. Every night they would send their clothes to the laundry but only get half of them back.
After he was discharged from the Navy he went home to run the farm while his dad took his mom to Salt Lake City for surgery on her jaw to remove a tumor. While home he looked up his buddy from high school, Kenny Wagoner. Kenny wanted to see his girlfriend, so they sat out on the grass visiting when her roommate came out. It was Lavina. He was introduced to her then she left to meet with her aunt.
He left for LA City College that fall. When he came home for Christmas, he invited Lavina to his birthday party. He went back to college and they wrote letters back and forth. When he came back they starting dating.
He transferred to Idaho State University (ISU) in Pocatello, Idaho so he could see Lavina on the weekends. He proposed to Lavina on the cable walk which spans the water from the Snake River entering the Idaho Falls Power Plant. She said yes!
They were married April 1, 1950, while on Spring Break. He arrived a bit late due to car troubles. It was a good decision, the marriage lasted almost 76 years. He worked as a machinist at the Pocatello Naval Ordinance Plant on the night shift while attending college during the day.
After two years at ISU, he transferred to the University of Utah (U of U) to study Nuclear Physics. He graduated with his Masters Degree in Nuclear Physics. He went on to more graduate work, but because of major professor changes, they raised the requirements and flunked all nine students on their Doctorate exam. He had a good job with Idaho National Laboratory (INL) and his family needed him. Every year after that he took advanced math and physic classes to stay up to date.
They built a 2 bedroom house across from his parents. They started digging the basement in the winter when the frost was already inches deep. They later moved this house into Idaho Falls and sold it to help pay for his education at the U of U.
They purchased an acre of his dad’s farm and started building their permanent home. Since there was no natural gas in the area, they installed a coal/wood boiler and piped the water around to all the rooms to heat the house. After about 10 years of wood gathering, natural gas was available and they quickly switched over to gas.
They bought a new camper that was damaged in an accident. He and Lavina repaired the damage. Their 5 kids would sleep on the overhead bed and they slept where the kitchen table was. They had many fine camp-outs with this camper.
They bought property in Island Park next to the National Forest. On weekends the family could camp in the camper and built an open shed to cover their camper. They built a cabin that was octagonal shaped. They enjoyed many weekends over the years at the cabin. Fishing and two reservoirs for boating were close by.
Lowell worked at INL until retiring in 1992. Various projects he worked on include a neutron spectrometer to measure the affects of neutrons of various energies on materials, designed and built a neutron beam for taking picture like x-rays, managed a geothermal project in Raft River, Idaho, helped developed a treatment for brain tumors in dogs to ultimately be used in humans, and development of the fusion power plant blanket. He was invited to make a presentation to the Russian Academy of Science in Leningrad and Moscow, Russia.
Lowell and Lavina started square dancing after Kevin was born, dancing 4-5 nights a week. After retirement, Lowell and Lavina wintered in Apache Junction, AZ and spent time square dancing round the world with friends. They moved to American Fork, Utah in 2004 to be closer to family.
He is survived by his 5 children: Dianne (Robert) Ashley, Evelyn (Bill) Peeler, David (Kathy) Miller, Christine Hiarring, and Kevin (Iras) Miller, 15 grandchildren and many great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his dear wife of 75 years Lavina Hill Miller; his parents; brothers George Miller and Richard Miller; granddaughter, Amber Dawn Clark; great-granddaughter, Tara Lyn Voorheis; and son-in-law, Doug Hiarring.
The family would like to express our deep, ongoing appreciation for the caretakers from Aspen Senior Care and United Energy Workers for the love and devotion to our parents.
Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 11:00 am in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Chapel located at, 1100 East 400 North, American Fork, Utah. A viewing will be held from 9:30-10:30 am prior to the funeral service.
Interment will be at the Highland City Cemetery.
Condolences may be sent to the family at www.warenski.com
