Eleanor Clarke Miller's Obituary
Eleanor Isabelle Clarke Miller died Saturday morning, March 22, 2025. Eleanor was born April 3, 1929, to Percy Caulfield Clarke, Jr. and Louise Gunther Clarke. She attended Idlewild Elementary School, Lausanne School and graduated from Southwestern (Rhodes College) in 1951.
After college, and after a year as a French teacher at her high school alma mater, Lausanne, Eleanor traveled the world extensively with family and friends and later as a travel agent for A & I Travel.
In 1960, Eleanor married the love of her life, Joe Miller, and they were married for 53 years.
Eleanor was a faithful, life-long parishioner of St. John’s Episcopal Church and devoted much of her time to her church community. She was a member of the choir, Women of the Church, Altar Guild, Vestry and later in life served on the Pastoral Care Committee.
As a life-long Memphian, Eleanor supported the Memphis community through her involvement with the Junior League of Memphis, Friends of the Pink Palace Museum, as a volunteer and secretary for the Memphis Mental Health Society and as a board member of the YMCA. She was a member of the Tuesday Study Club and The Memphis Book Club, writing her last book club paper at the age of 91. With a love for painting, Eleanor could always be found with a paintbrush or canvas close by and over the years enjoyed spending time with friends at her weekly art classes.
Most importantly, Eleanor was a devoted, loving wife, mother, grandmother and great- grandmother. Her favorite role was Granny. Visits to Granny’s house were always full of adventure, fun and remarkable meals. Eleanor was preceded in death by her husband, Joe; sister, Louise Clarke Bowles; and brother, George Gunther Clarke and is survived by her three children: Martha Camp (Bruce), Lucy Craven (Bill) and Joe Miller (Mickey); Six grandchildren: Katie Stengel (Nathan), Ellie Craven, Ann Clarke Craven, Faith Austin (Jacob), Mathew Camp and Laura Camp; and two great grandchildren: Ava Stengel and Miller Stengel.
A memorial service will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Monday, March 31st at 11:00 a.m. with visitation preceding the service at 10:00 a.m. in the Parish Hall. Interment at Elmwood Cemetery will immediately follow the service.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to St. John’s Episcopal Church or the charity of the donor’s choice.
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