(Please use the contact form to send me additional information, or if you would like to share a memory of Jim on the memories page. If you have a photo you want included in the slideshow, send it to me at [email protected]. Thanks, Jill Perry)
Jimmy had a rough start in life. He wasn't expected to survive birth due to being very
premature. He did survive, at 2 pounds, 2 ounces. His weight dropped below 2 pounds and when he was 12 days old, the doctors again thought they would lose him. Instead, he started to gain weight and after several months he was able to go home. Every day of his life was a miracle.
His early years were spent in High Bridge, New Jersey. Jimmy's mother, Ginny, was his father's second wife. He had two sisters, Judi and Jill by Jim Miller, Jr.'s first wife Laura who lived in Scotch Plains. They visited often on weekends and summer vacations.
In 1966, Jim, Ginny and Jimmy moved to Upper Saddle River, NJ. Jim worked for Exxon (still Esso then), and after High School, Jimmy had jobs with Exxon delivering fuel oil and at a uranium mine in Wyoming, driving huge trucks.
When he moved to Florida, he became a fireman with Palm Beach County Fire & Rescue. He married Merry Dickens in 1987, and became a step-father to her children, Brandie, Heather and Michael. Brandie said, "It took a man as crazy as Jim to marry a woman with three teenagers!" He remained especially close to Heather, who has cared for him so well in his final months. Her children, Lauren and Sarah, think of him as their Grandpa. He is also Grandpa to Brandie's children, Ashley and Michael, and to Michael's children, James, Tiffany and Lila.
In recent years, he lived with Robin Coles, and became a stepfather to her daughter Samantha, and later Grandpa to her son, Justin.
Jimmy has also been a loving Uncle to Bret Davis, Kara Burke, Sierra Ryan and Adrienne Perry, and a loving Great-Uncle to Kara and Joe's children, Will, Weston and Judy.
Jimmy had a rough start in life. He wasn't expected to survive birth due to being very
premature. He did survive, at 2 pounds, 2 ounces. His weight dropped below 2 pounds and when he was 12 days old, the doctors again thought they would lose him. Instead, he started to gain weight and after several months he was able to go home. Every day of his life was a miracle.
His early years were spent in High Bridge, New Jersey. Jimmy's mother, Ginny, was his father's second wife. He had two sisters, Judi and Jill by Jim Miller, Jr.'s first wife Laura who lived in Scotch Plains. They visited often on weekends and summer vacations.
In 1966, Jim, Ginny and Jimmy moved to Upper Saddle River, NJ. Jim worked for Exxon (still Esso then), and after High School, Jimmy had jobs with Exxon delivering fuel oil and at a uranium mine in Wyoming, driving huge trucks.
When he moved to Florida, he became a fireman with Palm Beach County Fire & Rescue. He married Merry Dickens in 1987, and became a step-father to her children, Brandie, Heather and Michael. Brandie said, "It took a man as crazy as Jim to marry a woman with three teenagers!" He remained especially close to Heather, who has cared for him so well in his final months. Her children, Lauren and Sarah, think of him as their Grandpa. He is also Grandpa to Brandie's children, Ashley and Michael, and to Michael's children, James, Tiffany and Lila.
In recent years, he lived with Robin Coles, and became a stepfather to her daughter Samantha, and later Grandpa to her son, Justin.
Jimmy has also been a loving Uncle to Bret Davis, Kara Burke, Sierra Ryan and Adrienne Perry, and a loving Great-Uncle to Kara and Joe's children, Will, Weston and Judy.