Teddy "Ted" Gene Miller was born to Willie Mae Adams and Christian Glen Miller on January 14, 1954 in Guthrie, Oklahoma. Guthrie was the closest thing to a home base while Ted was young. His father was a pastor and they moved to many small towns around Oklahoma and Texas. Although he was tall and towered over others, he was always known as a nice guy and made friends easily wherever they lived. He was a proverbial gentle giant.

As a teenager Ted enjoyed playing football. However, his knees didn't enjoy it as much as he did and after his 2nd knee surgery he had to retire that dream. He was always a superior student and was chosen as his school's representative to Boy's State. Ultimately, Ted became interested in the pharmacy business after talking to one of his uncle's friends who was a pharmacist. He worked at a local drugstore as a delivery driver and was quickly moved to work inside. This all led Ted to decide to be a pharmacist for a living. He went to Southwestern College in Weatherford and obtained his BS in Pharmacy in 1977. To no-one's surprise, he graduated near the top of his class. Ted worked in the pharmacy business for a total of 51 years!!

The pharmacy business was not always fun or safe. There were multiple robberies and he was held at gun point on more than one occasion. Due to one of these incidents, he ended up having to testify in court to help put the criminal away. He was in his 50's or 60's when he was notified that the individual was being released from prison.

Aside from those incidents Ted loved being a pharmacist!! He developed many, many friendships that were still strong even until the day he passed. The friendships were so strong in fact, a group of 'old geezer pharmacists' that included Bob, Bill, Chris and Ted would frequently have lunch together. They were often teased about being old, but had an admirable friendship!

Aside from his profession, Ted had many hobbies and interests. These included being an uncle to Christy and Billy, snow skiing, hunting, fishing, golf, cooking, traveling and the University of Oklahoma Sports.

One story Chris remembers well…. Neither Ted nor Chris were any good at golf – but they enjoyed the game within the game. They were always encouraging each other when they played, encouraging each other to choke that is! The last round they played, Chris was way ahead. He ended up losing some ground but was still 4 strokes ahead with 2 holes left. Ted kept reminding Chris not to choke! Chris did indeed choke and Ted ended up winning by 1 stroke. There is no better winning than against your brother. This was a theme with Chris and Ted. When they would fish – it was always about who won. They would make up different categories in an attempt to be the winner. 'Well, you may have caught more but I caught the biggest, or the most colorful, etc.' They enjoyed their competition with each other.

Ted loved fishing and went to the White River in Arkansas almost yearly to fish for trout. He also went to south Texas for several years to fish for redfish. Additionally, he took two fly-in fly-out trips to Canada and once while in Hawaii he went on an outing where he caught twelve mahi mahi.

Speaking of his travels – Ted started traveling as a teenager and really never stopped. Between his junior and senior years of high school he went on a six-week trip to Europe, Rome, Geneva, London, etc. This was probably one of his favorite trips and he talked about it often. He stayed in college dorms and ate dorm food. His travel group had college professors as their guides. Quite a long and expansive trip! He recently told Billy that the cost of the trip was under $1000!

Ted continued his love of traveling into adulthood. He recently told his family he had been on fifteen cruises in his lifetime. He visited Israel and the Holy Lands with a group from Council Road Baptist Church. While there he was baptized in the Jordan River.

Ted and his father, Glen, hiked the Grand Canyon twice and he went on several mission trips. He went twice to Cambodia, once to Jamaica and twice to Mexico with Chris.

Ted went to Hawaii too many times to count. Two of his most favorite trips were taking Christy and Billy on trips when they graduated high school. These are trips that have made core memories for Christy and Billy. He loved Alaska and went multiple times as well. Ted was definitely very well-traveled.

This love of travel even meshed well with his love of Oklahoma University Sports. He was an avid OU fan his entire life. He held season tickets for football and basketball for many years. In addition to home games, he traveled often to see them as well. Ted traveled to the Cotton Bowl several times to watch OU-Texas; he went to away games at Texas A&M, Tennessee, and Ohio State which were all dramatic OU victories. He also attended the Orange Bowl, Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl games.

He attended two Big XII Championship Games in Kansas City and two in Dallas. One of the games in Dallas included Chris and Jane as well as Addison. The game went in to overtime and OU ultimately won. It was Addi's 1st good OU Football experience and turned her into an avid fan. She has been hooked ever since.

During the last few years, Ted's travels decreased and he picked up a new hobby: grilling and smoking on his Pellet Grill. He loved to cook for others and was a talented maker of barbecue. Ted and his friend Bob went to Georgia for Myron Mixon's Cooking School and they had a similar trip planned for this summer.

Ted actually retired a few years ago, but that didn't last long because he was too bored. During retirement he worked at Miller Drug for Chris on Mondays and Tuesdays. This gave him something to do and he enjoyed bringing his work family his creations from the grill.

Ted loved being an uncle! He never married so Christy and Billy (his niece and nephew) were the closest he'd ever have to having children. Better, really, because he could spoil them and send them home and not have to worry about the actual raising part. Spoil them, he did! He was pretty good at following the rules and not letting them run amuck – but he loved spoiling them. From early Christmas pics to multiple trips, Ted loved spending time with Christy and Billy. He never missed any of their games or important events. He was so close that even their friends knew him as "Uncle." Many never knew his real name because "Uncle" was his name! He took them to Hawaii as mentioned above, a cruise (that Ashley, Billy's wife, went on as well) and many OU sporting events. He was an amazing Uncle!

Ted lived a long and full life. He is now with his parents in Heaven: a much better place than here on earth. His friends and family are saddened to have lost him but know the 70 years he spent here on earth were well lived; we are all better off for having had him in our lives!

Funeral services will be held Friday, April 12 at 10:00am at Mercer-Adams Chapel with interment to follow in Bethany Cemetery. The service will be livestreamed and may be viewed on this obituary page.