Published on June 20, 2025 4:02 pm
Last Updated on June 22, 2025 6:44 pm
Mark Wayne Miller, age 73, of Newton, Illinois, passed away at 9:55 AM- Friday June 20, 2025, at his home after a courageous battle with stage 4 lung cancer.
Services celebrating Mark’s life will be held at 10:00 AM – Wednesday, June 25, 2025, at the Scott Avenue Christian Church, 404 Scott Avenue, Newton, Illinois, with Kevin Colclasure officiating. The burial will be in Saint Joseph Cemetery in Island Grove, Illinois. A visitation for family and friends will be held from 4:00 to 7:00 PM – Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at the church and again on Wednesday from 9:00 to 10:00 AM. Arrangements are under the care of the Meyer Funeral Home in Newton, Illinois. The obituary can be viewed and condolences left at www.meyerfh.com.
Mark was born June 12, 1952, in Effingham, Illinois, the son of Bernard and Marjorie (Rife) Miller of Newton, Illinois. He married Jeanne Meinhart of Island Grove, Illinois, on October 16, 1976, and they lived in Yorkville, Illinois. Their delightful son, Luke was born in 1982.
Mark and Jeanne enjoyed traveling to see relatives, friends, and our beautiful world. Their highlight was going to Burbank, California, to visit their immediate family. Their two grandkids ranked extremely high on Mark’s “list of favorites.” Mark was responsible and caring towards his family, regularly looking out for their well-being. He had a close relationship with his siblings as well.
Some of the other things Mark found joy in were fishing trips to Minnesota, league bowling, mushroom hunting, watching NASCAR races and other sports, nature rides, bird and deer watching, grilling, making and gifting Chex Mix with his own special recipe, and playing table games. He was a dog lover who chose not to own a dog and gave treats to dogs walking by. The dog owners, as well as other people, often admired his meticulous, beautiful yard, sometimes asking for advice for their own yards. His father had set an example for expert yard care.
Mark was a nonconformist, realist, and deep thinker who often came up with the right answers and solutions. Typically, he presented reality and humor in the same setting, unexpectedly “pulling the leg” of the other person, who may or may not have ever realized he was! New people in his life were sometimes encountered with a sense of an automatic friend. Lonely and afflicted people also caught his attention, and he went the extra mile to help them and others. Those who knew him well likely recognized what a reMARKable man he was!
In Mark’s early working years, he acquired a solid work ethic at Miller Brothers Texaco Station in Newton, Illinois, owned and managed by his father, Bernie, and his Uncle Ralph. After graduating from Newton High School in 1970, he completed the Total Data Processing program at Manpower Business Training Institute in St. Louis, Missouri, and later the Telecommunications Program at DePaul University, as well as other classes over the years. His 36 years of work at the Caterpillar Inc facility in Aurora, Illinois, primarily involved computer operations, management of the facility phones and videoconferencing equipment, and allocating computers. An exceptionally friendly guy, he was well-liked by many of his thousands of customers at the plant. Jeanne also worked there; and in 2009, they both retired. In 2014, they moved from Yorkville, Illinois, back to their Jasper County roots, re-establishing themselves in Newton.
The photo represents Mark’s life as a whole. Being age 36, he was midway in time between his first and last photos. It may also somewhat resemble how he now looks in Heaven.
Surviving are his wife of 48 years, Jeanne Miller of Newton, Illinois; son, Luke (wife Jay) Miller, grandchildren, Lucy and Maxwell Miller, all of Burbank California; siblings, Michael (wife Gayla) Miller of Bluffton, South Carolina, Stephen (wife Sheila) Miller of Toledo, Illinois, Barbara Long of Newton, Illinois; five brothers-in-law; nine sisters-in-law; aunt, Adeline Miller of Newton, Illinois; 14 cousins; and many nieces, nephews, great nieces, and great nephews.
Mark was preceded in death by his parents; grandparents, Charles “Dee” (wife Faye) Rife, and John (wife Edith) Miller; brother, Bryan Miller; parents-in-law, Frank and Luella Meinhart; brothers-in-law, Larry Weber and Mike Barkley; seven uncles, six aunts, and five cousins.
In loving memory of Mark, you are invited to make a donation to the Scott Avenue Christian Church multipurpose building outreach ministry, or the Jasper County Cancer Support.