Canton’s Wayne Miller celebrates 104 years with friends

Miller still lives in the farmhouse he was born in on March 25, 1920.

Suzanne W. Ryan, one of the Whites’ four daughters, said her first real clear memory was a call from Miller to come get her horse out of his wife’s garden.

Like dozens of others shared Saturday, that story brought gales of laughter from the small group gathered to celebrate the day.

Except for two weeks, when he was in a nursing home, Miller has lived on the farm his father bought in 1917. The Whites have been his neighbors since 1976.

“He saw a lot of boyfriends come and go,” Deborah W. White said.

Life on the farm changed only gradually over the years, Miller said.

“Way back then, it was all horses,” he said.

He didn’t buy a tractor until 1949.

He doesn’t recall the make. He said it was just after the war.

“Back in that time, you didn’t have a choice,” he said.

When his father owned the farm, they milked between 25 and 30 cows, he said. When he took over, he increased the number to about 37, all milked by hand.

Sometime in the 1940s, Miller bought his first pickup truck. The owner wanted $150.

“Well, I only had $70,” Miller said. He had to go to the bank for the remaining $80.

Miller recalled that paying it off cost him about $10 a month.

On top of that, he hated the truck.

“It was a ’34 Dodge and I never had another,” he said.

Now, he has a low mileage ’98 Chevy pickup in the garage.

“I can drive legally,” he said with a smile. “But they don’t recommend it.”

Miller was married twice and did not have children. His first wife, Olive, died in 1959 at the age of 37. They were married for 14 years.

He married his second wife, Dolly, in 1973. They had been married 42 years when she died in 1973.

The Whites and the Millers have always kept an eye on each other. When Diane W. Cullen, the Whites’ youngest daughter, was injured playing softball and everyone in the family was busy, the solution was to “take her to Wayne and Dolly’s.”

On another occasion, Wayne and his wife asked whether one of the girls stayed home from school. They asked because they could see that the TV was on all day.

Just recently, Miller asked that a hedgerow be trimmed down because it obstructed his few of the Whites’ house.

Miller has Meals on Wheels delivered to his house and an aide spends a few hours with him while he prepares for the day.

When it is nice, Pat White takes him for rides. They play cards and go out for ice cream.

“I keep him company,” she said.

Miller’s father died when he was 77, but his mother lived to be older than 100, he said.

“Maybe it’s the water,” he said.

His 100th birthday, March 25, 2020, was not celebrated because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some folks from First Presbyterian Church on the Park came to his house to sing “Happy Birthday” on the front lawn.

He said there weren’t birthday parties when he was a boy.

“It was just another day,” he said.

His health hasn’t always been the best.

He had the flu once and went back to work before he was healthy and suffered a relapse that affected his heart.

“There was a whole year where I couldn’t do anything,” he said.

Miller has an optimistic outlook. He takes his heart medication, drives a gator around his property, visits his dentist regularly and makes a six-month appointment each time.

On Saturday, there was a break in the storytelling for cake and ice cream and the singing of “Happy Birthday.”

Then, it was back to the stories. There were so many to share.