Obituary of Mack Miller

Humble, strong, gentle, kind, clever, quiet, hard-working, patient
Mack Miller passed away peacefully, holding his wife Lee’s hand, at Foothills hospital in Calgary on Monday, April 22, 2019 at the age of 83 years. Mack was born on August 13, 1935 near Benito, Manitoba. The family moved to a beautiful farm near the shore of Lake Erie in Lowbanks, Ontario when Mack was 7 and he grew up helping with the pigs, cattle, and field work. His wanderlust was strong, and he spent time picking fruit in the orchards of the Okanagan, working at a logging camp north of Revelstoke, labouring on a dairy farm near Cochrane, and taking up an RCMP post in Uranium City, Saskatchewan, where he met his wife, Lee, a teacher. 
They had adventures in Burnaby and New Westminster, skiing on the local waterways in a boat Mack built himself. They hitch-hiked together in Europe, then started their family in Hazelton, BC. With two young children in tow, they settled in Young, Saskatchewan where the family grew up, and Mack became a trusted member of the community -- building houses, reading meters, building and operating the trailer court, and even serving as mayor. He designed and built (with the family’s help) a cabin on the shore of Fishing Lake, close to Lee’s childhood home. They moved to Saskatoon where they built a beautiful custom house with ingenious passive solar heating. Mack earned a landscape diploma, and they started another business in the form of a native plant nursery. 
An active lover of the outdoors, Mack spent time throughout his life walking nature trails, gathering native plant seeds with Lee, canoeing, biking, swimming, skiing (all kinds) and choosing the stairs over the elevator. Community-minded, he was an active member of the Legion and the Horticulture Society. And he could build or fix just about anything.
At their children’s request, Mack and Lee moved to Calgary in the summer of 2017. We are so grateful for the time this move allowed the family to spend with Dad / Grandpa.
Mack was predeceased by his father, Karl, and his mother, Agnes, and brother Charles. Left to feel his absence are his wife Lee of 59 years, son Karl (Sanna), daughter Jody (Egon), grandchildren Ashley, Aidan, Mike, Maddi, Brendan, Kai, and Matilda, beloved nieces and nephews, his sisters Martha and Ann, and cousins in Canada and Denmark. 
Mack wasn’t afraid of hard work, and he possessed patience that we could all (attempt to) emulate. He also knew how to treat himself with a rest on the lakeshore or with home baking or ice cream. Everyone is invited to join the family on Tuesday, April 30 at 1:00 pm to remember, reflect, and celebrate (and enjoy sweet treats in his honour) at the Nutana Legion at 3021 Louise Street in Saskatoon, where Mack and Lee could be found dancing on many Friday nights back in the day.
An interment ceremony will follow on Wednesday, May 1 in Margo, Saskatchewan, not far from “the lake”.
If family or friends wish to donate to a charity in Mack’s memory, we know he would have appreciated your support of Parkinson Canada, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) or Nature Canada.