In Memoriam: Phyllis Miller

Yvonne Romeo

My best picture was with my great nephew, Trey.

I'm sure you all remember my working at the Short Stop Drive-In. I worked in Akron for a little while - in the hospitality shop in one of the hospitals and at Smithers Laboratories.

I left Ohio in 1966 and went to Florida for a two-week vacation and stayed 21 years in the Tampa Bay area. I was in the bar and restaurant business 25 years working various establishments including Tampa Downs, Tampa Dog Track, and Tampa Jai Alai. I also bought a beer and wine bar in Tampa with a partner. We had a pizza oven and served homemade sandwiches. We joined forces with other similar bars and had a pool tournament. I started college while in Tampa, continued my studies when I moved to Atlanta, took more classes when I went to Savannah, and now have two more classes to go so I can get my degree in computer programming. I figure I'll be 95 years old when I graduate.

I did return to Kent for 2 1/2 years when my father died in 1972 to run his bar and dispose of his estate. My mother died in 1969 and both my sisters had moved to Florida, so there wasn't anything to keep me there.

In Atlanta I worked for the American headquarters for Komatsu (heavy equipment). They merged with Dresser and moved to Illinois and I was offered a job in Savannah doing inventory control with the company who received the equipment from Japan and stored it on its property until needed by the distributorships. There not being much of a future with Mayfield, I applied for a job at Georgia Ports Authority and worked for the port 15 1/2 years until I retired December 1, 2006. I started out doing payroll and had to be a stand-alone computer person and spent the last 11 years being a checker foreman. Sometimes I ran a gang using forklifts that loaded/unloaded trucks and railcars and sometimes I clerked vessels that called making sure the commodities that were unloaded had the correct identifying marks and quantities, checking for any damage or discrepancies, giving the locations in the warehouses or storage areas, and signed the manifests. I also did inventory control once a month to verify computer records and to reconcile discrepancies. I looked great in a hard hat, steel-toed boots, safety glasses, and a reflective vest. I was elected to the Board of Directors for the Georgia Ports Credit Union and served as secretary for the Board and learned a lot about banking and finance.

My free time was spent doing volunteer work. Most of it was with an animal group, Pet Assistance League of Savannah, Inc. (PALS) that helped low-income people spay and neuter their pets. I have 3 dogs and 3 cats (all rescues) and I moved to Texas near my sister, Sheran, because there are no planes, no trains, and no semis close to the subdivision and we have access to Lake Conroe.

Yvonne

Q's Quiz

Last section.

Section Three answers

Row 1: J. Cummingham, G. Hollow, D. Filomena, J. Edwards, G. Boykin, R. Atkinson, P. Miller, G. Fickey
Rowe 2: T. Bitlz, R. Grtiton, B. Burns, B. Faltisco, A. Bubnow, M. Baxter, C. Bottorff, D. Braybon
Row 3: F. Anderson, R. Corpe, C. Chatman, A. Carboni, L. Bagner, C. Arganti, C. Gaugh, K. Condley