Christopher Mardin Miller September 20, 1909 - May 18, 1979 This picture of Mardin must have been taken when he was around 14. I think it was at Muir Woods in Marin County. We always called my uncle Mardin even though this was his middle name. His first name was taken from his grandfather Christopher Miller. In later life he called himself C. M. Miller or Chris Miller to others than his family. As I have mentioned previously, my mother and my Uncle Mardin were very close as children growing up on the sheep ranch outside of Dixon. Eileen was four years older than my mother, and, apparently, had a more grown up life. The most memorable story that my mother told me about Mardin was that he was kicked in the forehead by a horse when he was small; probably around nine or ten years of age. I’m sure that this was a terrifying event. First, medical attention was far less available in a rural setting, and far less advanced in the early years of the twentieth century. I don’t know the details, but Mardin had a metal plate put into his forehead to replace the crushed bone. He always had a scar on his forehead that reminded me of this event. My mother said that Mardin’s sometime volatile behavior was probably due to the fact that he’d been kicked in the head by a horse. I’m sure that his sisters and parents were very worried about not only the immediate but lingering effects of the accident. When my grandfather divorced, remarried, and moved back to Oakland, Mardin and my mother again were drawn together for mutual support. I don’t think it was a particularly happy time for either of them. My mother used to mention how embarrassed she was because she had to wear socks with holes in them to high school. She and Mardin also had a very young stepmother who could never replace their own mother, even though she abandoned them. Present day joggers at Lake Merritt, Oakland, where Uncle Mardin used to work out. The family must have lived in the downtown area near Lake Merritt because Mardin apparently liked distance running, and frequently ran around the lake in the early morning. Apparently, Mardin was a good runner, and probably participated in high school events. Around high school graduation he became a baker in a nearby bakery. I don’t have much information about Mardin between graduation and being drafted into the Army at the start of WWII. I do know that he married a woman named Audrey, and that they had a daughter named Darlene, my cousin, born in 1937. I don’t have any details, but Mardin and Audrey divorced prior to Mardin going into the Army. His record of his induction indicates “no dependents.” This breakup created a lot of friction on both sides of the family. As a result, Darlene (now called Leeanne) never got to learn much about her father and his side of the family. For our part, the estrangement was reciprocal. Our Aunt Eileen and Uncle George, who lived nearby in Oakland and other Bay Area locations, never went out of their way to contact Leeanne and her mother. Eileen always maintained hostility toward Audrey, and I think the feeling was mutual. Mardin’s divorce was never discussed in my family, but I was aware that his abandonment of Darlene and his responsibilities as a father left a bitter taste in my mother’s and Aunt Eileen’s mouths. Rightly so, I might add. It was especially sad that we couldn’t reconcile with Audrey, as we shared the same pain. I recall that Uncle Mardin came to visit us in Auburn during WWII. He had been stationed in the Aleutian Islands off Alaska around the time the Japanese made landings on several of the islands. He never was directly involved in combat, however. I also remember my mother sending him “care packages” while he was in the Army. After the War was over, Mardin moved to Mississippi and got a job working for the Mississippi State Veterans’ Administration. He married a Mississippi girl named Alethia. She was a very good and sweet woman. Around 1947 Mardin and Alethia came out to California to visit us in Auburn. At the time, we had an old 1937 Chevrolet sedan what was on its last legs. Mardin had some experience repairing engines, so my father paid him to rebuild the engine on the Chevy. For a young boy, this was a lot of fun to watch. He completely disassembled the engine, replaced the cylinder rings, had the valves ground, and replaced other needed parts. If forget, but I think it took him about four or five days to complete the job. We appreciated his work. Alethia came from a dirt poor Mississippi family. “Dirt” is the operative word. She said that she grew up in a house with a dirt floor. That was how poor they were. She appreciated everything. I can distinctly remember how she cleaned and polished my mother’s electric stove. It was like it was the more wonderful invention that she had ever seen. My parents genuinely liked Alethia, and we were glad that Mardin had such a loving and loyal companion. Unfortunately, Alethia has a heart condition, and she died some time in the 1950’s. I don’t remember the date. Mardin continued to work for the Veterans’ Affairs. It sounded like some semi-political job. We never had any idea as to what he did. My mother, as I mentioned, earlier, was always the family “in-gatherer.” She maintained contact with Mardin during thick and thin, and also kept in touch with Leeanne. This was one of her gifts. She kept her lines out to people, and always worked for reconciliation. I only remember one time when my mother and Mardin had words over the phone. Mardin had called late at night and had been drinking. I frankly don’t remember what the conversation was about, but my mother was disturbed for some time over it. Apparently, around the same time, Mardin had a similar conversation with Eileen because we would hear all about this when we got together for Christmas for a number of years. Uncle Mardin remarried again in the 1970’s to a woman who was a nurse. Again, he married someone that we liked a lot. Marge was his nurse, and a caregiver when Mardin started to have heart problems. After my father retired in 1969, they took a trip that covered much of the South, including Mississippi. They had a chance to visit Marden and Marge and enjoyed the time together very much. I think this was the last time that brother and sister actual saw eachother. In the middle 1970’s, my wife Pat and I attended a conference in Dallas, and extended our trip to New Orleans. While we were there, we made a day trip to Biloxi to visit Mardin and Marge. It was a very enjoyable visit, and this was the last time I had to be with my uncle. Of course, I hadn’t seen him for a very long time since the late 1940’s when we lived in Auburn. I couldn’t believe how much his mannerisms reminded me of Aunt Eileen. I think they inherited these traits from their father based upon an old family movie that I’ve seen featuring my grandfather holding me when I was around one.
These photos of my cousin (Darleen) Leeanne Miller were taken when she was five. The picture on the left was taken at the home of a friend, Mrs. Grace Hummel. The photo on the right was taken at her elementary school, both in Oakland. Leeanne and I have maintained contact over the years, especially over the last 25 or so. We’ve only visited on several occasions, but I still feel that we maintain a family love for each other, and we share a common interest in our Miller family. Here is a letter from Lee that she sent to me in 2006 which describes her memories about her father: Hi there, I'm wondering if you really want to put my memories about my father's trip to CA in 1947-8 in the family hist. I only saw him three times. # 1. In the court chambers, where he was getting permission to see me. # 2. A few days later, when he and Aletha came to the house for perhaps and hour. (Did you ever meet Aletha? She seemed very sweet.) Anyway, he brought me a present of some darling, 1 inch scale, living room, dollhouse furniture. I loved them and made the BIG MISTAKE of getting down on the floor and playing with them. MOTHER HAD A FIT AFTER THEY LEFT!!!!!!!! Actually screamed at me for daring to show interest in anything he gave me. Went on and on and on. Really scared me. So when he and Aletha came by again a few days later, my 3rd meeting with him, I was under strict orders NOT to open any present he gave me. Which he did. And which I thanked him for and sat the box down on the coffee table. Finally, after a few minutes, he asked me, "Aren't you going to open up your present?" So I turned to Mother and asked if it was OK to do so. And she says, "Why of course you can. What made you think you couldn't?" I was really embarrassed. I opened up the box, and it contained a precious, miniature tea set on a little tray. I thanked him for it, making sure not to be enthused over it, and sat the box down on the table. They left a few minutes later and that was the last time I saw him. He only made two child-care payments and then he disappeared again. When none of his relatives would tell mother where he was, her response was to punish them by not letting anyone from his family contact me again. So that trip out here, when I was 10 1/2, cost me my whole paternal family. You can publish that if you want to, but I'm not really sure that that is the kind of thing most people would want to read. By the way, as a doll and toy collector, mother not only kept little things from the 1920's and on, but many of my things, too. But, that living room set and the tea set are gone. Lee
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