Florence Latitia "Tish" Miller

Florence Latitia "Tish" Miller, age 88, a resident of Little Rock for 37 years, died on May 20, 2017. She was born on July 16, 1928 in Detroit, Michigan. Her parents were Nicholas and Latitia M. Pierce. She graduated from Plymouth High School in Plymouth, Michigan and received a BA - Design degree from the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Michigan. After graduation she was employed as a designer in a New York architecture firm as well as two Detroit engineering firms and the Ford Motor Company Styling Studios. When she married her husband, Dr. David Miller, in 1967, she was assistant art editor for a national engineering magazine. Her first marriage, to George Durbin, ended in divorce, though she always said she got a bonus of a wonderful daughter. Tish and her parents raised Latitia Margaret until, after marrying David, she shared parenting duties with him. The couple set a pattern of moving every four years as her husband's career took them to New York's Long Island; Indianapolis, Indiana; and Houston, Texas. The pattern was broken when they moved to Little Rock in 1980. Tish made every new place a home for her family and built lasting relationships with new friends. In whatever city she lived she entered enthusiastically into community activities. In Detroit she was a member of the Society of Women Engineers, the Sports Car Club of America and her sorority, Alpha Delta Pi. In New York and Houston she was active in Newcomer Clubs. In Little Rock she served as president of the Old State House Museum Associates, and led tours of historic Arkansas. She was selected to be a member of the second class of Leadership Greater Little Rock. She was on the board of the Historic Preservation Alliance of Arkansas and represented her husband's company, Miller Research Group, in Central Arkansas Executive Association. She was also president of the Pleasant Valley Garden Club, and was active in various churches throughout her life. Tish loved to travel, as did her parents. By the time she entered high school she had visited 46 of the then-48 states of the union. She and David continued to explore the world as he lectured aboard cruise ships sailing the Alaska coast, the Iberian Peninsula, the Panama Canal, and the Caribbean, and as they traveled the Mississippi River on a stern-wheel paddleboat and rode the American Orient Express train from New Orleans and Washington, D.C. They also visited Little Rock's sister cities in Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Ragusa, Italy; Mons, Belgium; Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England and Changchun, China. And she visited the last four states, to make it an even 50. Their favorite destination was Hawaii, where they vacationed many times. Tish Miller is survived by her husband, David; her daughter, Tisha Doppler (Steve) of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; their three children, Andrew, Michael and Carolyn; her step-son, David Scott Miller (Ruth), and their two children, David and Christopher, of Blue Hill, Maine. The life of this vibrant, generous and talented woman will be celebrated in a memorial service at St. James United Methodist Church on Wednesday,May 31 at 2 p.m. Rev. Greg Schick will officiate, assisted by Rev. David Gill. In lieu of flowers the family requests that you make a donation to your favorite charity. Tish's online guestbook may be signed at www.littlerockfuneralhome.com.