Coralou Miller died December 2, 2022, a few weeks before her 91st birthday. She was born in Logan, Utah, December 19, 1931, to Leslie and Marjorie Meacham. The family moved to the Yakima Valley in the mid-1930's where Coralou lived for the next 40 years, graduating from Grandview High School with the Class of 1950.

Coralou married Forrest Miller in late October, 1950, at Bethany Presbyterian Church in Grandview. Coralou and Forrest's mother, Ruth Miller, picked chrysanthemums from the garden to decorate the church. After working potato harvest all day, Forrest arrived at the church when the music was already playing. Recounting their wedding day while celebrating their 60th anniversary, he told his family with his hand over his heart and a crack in his voice, "this most beautiful girl in the world … came down the aisle… and married me."

Along the road of life, Coralou and Forrest kept busy raising five children. Coralou's love for animals helped her guide the kids through raising and grooming sheep, pigs and steers for their 4-H entries in the Lower Valley Junior Fair held annually in Grandview. There were many day-trips full of hiking and picnicking at Mt. Rainier, and lots of summer camping adventures.

Coralou was a gifted artist, and took painting classes from time to time. She mostly worked in oil paints, different instructors inspiring different styles. Years later Coralou took another class focusing on desert landscapes familiar to Kennewick. From the mid-1960's on, there was always at least one of her paintings on display in their home.

For many years Coralou shared her beautiful, soprano voice through numerous solos and duets while singing with the church choir. In the 1970's Coralou was the featured soprano for a lower Yakima Valley production of "The Messiah" that aired on local television.

Coralou was a "Jack of All Trades" holding many different jobs throughout the years. She worked at Grandview school district providing office support and high school study hall oversight. Coralou was the town librarian in Grandview in the early 1970's, her love of books and reading making the job a perfect fit. Under her tenure, the library building was significantly remodeled, doubling in size, becoming a popular place for teenagers to spend their evenings.

But most of all, Coralou was a homemaker. She followed in her mother's footsteps making little events into wondrous celebrations, and holidays were full of magic. She tended many gardens, both ornamental and nutritious. She canned or froze the fruits of her labor, initially by herself and later with the help of her daughters. She often took the kids to pick pears or cherries or grapes to put-up for the coming year. And the pies—she baked amazing pies. After taking the first bite of each pie that Coralou prepared, Forrest always said, "That's the best pie you ever made." She sewed clothes for the kids and herself, and embroidered. Coralou excelled at all these domestic skills and passed them on to her children.

The Millers moved to Kennewick in 1977 when they purchased the F&F Self Service gas station which they operated into the mid-1990's.

Coralou and Forrest loved taking their kids and grandkids out on the river in the "Old Tin Tub" for an afternoon of water-tubing and picnicking. In their later years, when Coralou's friends were proudly showing new diamond rings, Coralou told Forrest that she didn't want a diamond ring—she wanted a boat! Their new boat was aptly named "Lou's Diamond".

After retirement, they "farmed" in their backyard growing a substantial vegetable garden as well as berries and grapes. Coralou tended her flower gardens into summer 2020. Throughout her lifetime she usually had a fresh bouquet in the house spring through autumn.

With her lifelong companion, Coralou and Forrest engaged in many bird-watching adventures through the Tri-Cities Audubon Society.

In October, 2015, the family celebrated Coralou and Forrest's 65th anniversary. It was a glorious party attended by many family members, neighbors, and friends—a tapestry of people woven from myriad threads of their life. Forrest passed away a few days later.

Coralou is survived by her children and their spouses: Steve and Wendy Miller, Coos Bay OR; Marie and Tony Pennella, Kennewick; Eric and Laura Schactler Miller, Selah; Laurie and Dan Campbell, Tacoma; and 11 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Coralou was preceded in death by her husband, Forrest Miller, and her son, Tony Miller, who died in August of this year.

Please sign the guest registry online at Muellers Funeral Homes. No public service is planned.