Ruth Miller

Ruth "Berta" Elberta Collings Miller, 87 years of age, residing in Cannon Falls, Minnesota for the past 54 years, died peacefully on Saturday, July 4, 2015 at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester of complications from an infection. Berta Collings was born to Ruth Lillian (Boyce) Collings and Elbert "Hoddy" Collings on June 19, 1928 at their home in McKenzie County, North Dakota. She joined Conrad and was later joined by Glenn "Bunny", Shirley, and Lola. Berta's dad died of a heart attack when she was nine years old. A short time later, her mom married Freddie Wagner and they had another daughter, Lee "Dolly". Berta was very active with 4H and Farmers Union as a teenager and received many awards, attended camps and travelled to various places in the United States with these organizations. She was always proud of the fact that she received a top handwriting award from the state of North Dakota. Berta was selected as valedictorian and graduated from Ray High School in North Dakota. She went on to become a school teacher in a one room schoolhouse, where she taught until she married Leslie "Les" Miller. They were married June 23, 1948 on Berta's family farm in Bonetrail, ND. Soon after getting married, they bought Les' family farm north of Williston and rented a house in town, where they had their first four children, Gary, Alan, Diane, and Gayle. They then built a house on the outskirts of Williston and had two more children, Patti and Mike. When Mike was six months old, Les was offered a promotion with Farmers Union Central Exchange at their office in St. Paul, Minnesota. They lived in South St. Paul for a little over a year. They decided they didn't like city life, so they bought a "hobby" farm in Cannon Falls, where they resided until Les passed away in October of 2001. Berta remained on that farm until August 2014, when she had a brief hospital stay, after which the doctor recommended she move to Twin Rivers. Berta loved needlework of various kinds. She made animal quilts for each of her great-grandchildren. She embroidered a set of dishtowels for each of her grandchildren, as they got married (with a set prepared for each grandchild not yet married). She enjoyed reading, jigsaw puzzles and various board games. She was very interested in birds and bird watching, gardening, and caring for her plants. Berta always had a very strong faith in God and she relied on that faith to get her through hard times. Berta is survived by her children, Gary Miller of Cannon Falls, Judy (Kvittem) Miller of Cannon Falls, Gayle and her husband Gary Heppelmann of Apple Valley, Patti Regan and Peter Regan of St. Paul, and Mike Miller of Minneapolis. She is survived by 12 grandchildren, Jared (Kelly) Miller, Josh (Tonya) Miller, Luke (Kelly) Miller, Eric Wood, Jill Wood, Aimee Wood, Jayme (Scott) (Heppelmann) Miller, Cassi Heppelmann, Nicole Heppelmann, Robyn Heppelmann, Emily Regan and Greta Regan; 11 great-grandchildren (and three on the way), Rylann Miller, Kolton Miller, Tyreece Wood, Kaitlyn Wood, Nevaeh Morris, Jasmine Wood, Breanna Wood, Alexis Wood, Addison Miller, Evan Miller, Brennan Miller and two step-great-grandsons, Jackson Ekstrom and Gavin Moorhead, and many nieces and nephews. She is also survived by her sisters, Shirley Green of Williston, ND, Lola Hayden of Perham, MN and Lee Kraft of Laguna Beach, CA; sisters-in-law Jean (Allen) King, Joy (Ken) Perryman, Peggy (Vern-deceased) Nelson, and Virginia (Jim) Baisch. Berta was preceded in death by her husband, Leslie; son, Alan; daughter, Diane Wood; two grandsons, Brandon Wood and David Wood; parents, Elbert "Hoddy" Collings and Ruth (Boyce) (Collings) Wagner, and stepfather, Freddie Wagner; brothers, Conrad, Gayle, and Glenn Collings; and brothers-in-law, Melvin Green and Norman Hayden. There will be a memorial gathering 4-8 PM Sunday, July 12 at Lundberg Funeral Home in Cannon Falls. A memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM Monday, with visitation from 1-2 PM, at St. Ansgar's Lutheran Church in Cannon Falls, with Pastor Gary Schulz, Sheryl Bousu, and Pastor Carol Sinykin officiating. The inurnment will be at the Cannon Falls Cemetery.

Funeral Home: Lundberg Funeral Home 5839 Hwy 19 Blvd Cannon Falls, MN US 55009

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Previous Events

Visitation
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Service
Monday, July 13, 2015
Graveside Service
Monday, July 13, 2015

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