Tony R. Miller

Born 46 years ago on June 10, 1965 in Great Bend, Kansas was a baby boy named Anthony Ray Miller who grew into the most wonderful man!  People who met Tony always liked him and remembered him.  His quirky sense of humor hooked everyone from the moment he started talking.  But talking and entertaining people wasn't his only strong suit, he was a good listener and cared deeply for his friends and family. 

Growing up, Tony lived in Estes Park and worked for the Park Service. He loved going through Estes and through the Rocky Mountain National Park to remember all the roads he plowed, the trails he helped make, the outhouses he helped build, etc. He could tell you the name of every mountain and if he saw a picture that was taken in the National Park, he could take you to the exact spot of where it was taken. Even after many years he could go back to the Park and find someone who remembered him and had great stories to tell of "back in the day" which included many laughs.

Family was very important to Tony.  Tony met a young lady named Jacqui Tranchina when they were both working for Multifoods.  He married Jacqui on July 10, 1998 (often calling these years the most wonderful of his life!).  He was able to remember this date easily because it rhymed with "Life was great in 98" and it was exactly a month from his birthday.  Life with Tony was wonderful and every moment will be cherished forever.  Along with Jacqui was his immediate "family" of cats and loves of his life:  Sylvester (Bubby), Thelma (LuLu), Louise (Weezy) and Tasha (Noonie).

Tony faced many obsticals in his life.  The hardest was probably in 2005 when he was diagnosed with Schleroderma and kidney failure.  For two years he endured dialysis but never gave up hope.  Hope came in 2007 in the person of Shane Zimmerman, Tony's cousin-in-law.  Shane unselfishly donated one of his kidneys to Tony which gave Tony even more will to live.  He named his new kidney "Little Shane" and took special care of it, knowing what a precious gift it was.  What do you say to someone who gave the gift of life?  Thank you will never be enough but there will always be a special place in the hearts of Tony's family for Shane.

While in his hospital bed recovering from the kidney transplant Tony would watch the RTD buses go by and before he left the hospital he said that was what he was going to do.  He got his wish not long after and often joked that maybe he should have had loftier goals if this wish came true so easily!

Driving was always a love of Tony's and he worked for several companies over the years, including CocaCola and Consolidated Freightways.  But most recently he loved his job at RTD as a driver/instructor.  He met many great people there and loved them all and was always happy to drive a new route so he could meet new people along the way.  He would have riders say that they were glad that he was still going to be driving their route because he was always on time.

Another love of Tony's was his love of shooting pool.  He loved 8-Ball and played on many leagues over the years but working at RTD he came to love the game of Golf (pool).  After getting the hang of Golf, he often 'schooled' his opponents on the game and earned the name "Professor".  He often would make enough money to buy his lunch for the day at the Butcher Block, but also had to buy his own lunch many days too!

Tony will be sorely missed but definitely never forgotten.  He was loved by many and he loved many people.

Tony's ashes will be buried next to his mothers in Wichita, Kansas.  Date and time to follow.  Memorial services for Tony will also be held in Colorado.  Date and time to follow.

Tony is survived by his wife Jacqui, his father Ronald (Joe) Miller, step-mother Janice, brother Marty, step-brothers Rick Sinclair and Joshua Miller and step-sister Annette Cousins, and many other relatives and friends too numerous to list.

In leiu of flowers, friends may make memorial contributions in Tony's name to the Scleroderma Foundation

SCLERODERMA FOUNDATION

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