Our sweet, loving, generous dad, brother and uncle peacefully passed away on October 11, 2016 surrounded by family. He was born on November 20, 1927 in Helper, Utah to William Adelbert and Ruth Ellen Hardwick Miller.
Del grew up in Salt Lake City and attended West High School. He served in the medical corps of the U.S. Navy on the USS LST-844 naval ship, during the closing days of World War II. He attended the University of Utah and the University of California, Berkeley double majoring in civil engineering and biology. While at the University of Utah, he joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Del married Patsy Giles on December 19, 1952 in the Salt Lake L.D.S. Temple. They raised three children, William \"Bill\", Suzanne and Michelle. They later divorced.
Over his lifetime Del had an award winning career as a civil engineer. A few of the more notable and significant projects of his design work included the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline, the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) in San Francisco, a New England nuclear power plant proposal, American Samoa's Pago Pago International Airport highway and Salt Lake City\s original I-15 Freeway. Toward the end of his career the state of Utah asked Del to return to Salt Lake City to work on the redesign of I-15 and the Legacy Highway.
Del was the Vice President and co-founder of Trans-Western Engineering Company. He was affiliated with the American Society of Civil Engineers and the American Society of Military Engineers. His work took him from California to New England, and then from New York to San Francisco. He went from Point Barrow, Alaska (350 miles north of the Arctic Circle) to Pago Pago in American Samoa. After many years and many other destinations, (including a barge off of the coast of Louisiana) he returned home to Utah.
Del was also very involved in local and national Democratic politics. He served as Utah Governor Calvin Rampton\s first campaign manager and as President of the Young Democrats. Del was known for his sense of humor, his storytelling ability and his occasional pranks. He excelled in many sports and was a member of the University of Utah\s tennis team. Del was an avid golfer, skier, fisherman, and hunter. He had an extraordinary love of music and he possessed a vast knowledge of classical music and opera (often recounting his days singing in the University of Utah's Men's Chorus). He had a breadth of knowledge of history and he enjoyed reading works of poetry. Throughout his entire life, Del was fascinated by the wonders of nature and he was constantly in awe of the beauties of this earth.
He is survived by his children Bill (Kathy Eppler), Suzanne and Michelle Miller, his sisters Audrea (Gordon) Dorny and Nona Miller, his nephews Mark (Patricia) Dorny, Matthew (Nancy) Dorny, Dr. Christopher "C.J." (Megan) Dorny, and many great-nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his beloved parents, his sweet sisters V. Fawntelle Miller and Frankie Jo Flygare, his dear nephew and niece John Michael Dorny and Michelle Dorny Williams and her two children Ben and Anna Williams.
A private family service was held on Saturday, October 15, 2016 at Larkin Sunset Gardens Mortuary in Sandy, Utah.
