1869 – 1927

Lela Oleva Neff was born July 10, 1869 in Ottawa, Kansas and died on March 19, 1927, in San Francisco, California.  She Married Arthur Alvoria Miller on November 1, 1888 in Wichita, Kansas.

     Born in Ottawa, Franklin County, Kansas, in 1869, Lela Oleva Neff was the youngest of four children born to George and Mary Elizabeth (Hamilton) Neff.  She received her middle name, Oleva, from her maternal grandmother, Oleva (Butler) Hamilton.

     In the early 1870’s, the Neff’s left Ottawa and settled in Wichita, Kansas.  Lela spent her formative years in Wichita, receiving her education in the local school system.  Lela had a happy childhood.  With great imagination, she enjoyed staging plays with her friends.  At times they would create a circus by dressing their pets in homemade costumes and parading them around to the delight of their young audience.  Lela played the snake charmer, with worms dangling from the spokes of her parasol.  The price of admission was a couple of buttons.

     During the second half of the 1880’s Lela met a young man who, though six years her senior, shared her fondness for poetry and the arts.  Arthur Miller had moved to Wichita, in 1885, from his home in Bloomington, Monroe County, Indiana.  On Christmas day in 1887, he presented Lela with a leather bound copy of the book, LADY OF THE LAKE, by poet, Sir Walter Scott.

     On Thursday evening, November 1, 1888, nineteen year old Lela married Arthur Alvoria Miller in a ceremony held at the home of her brother, Sidney George Neff.  A notice of marriage from the newspaper read in part, “The bride was one of Sun Cities beautiful belles and while we extend our heartfelt congratulations, yet we do so with a tinge of sadness for our loss”.

    Lela was both an artist and musician.  She was adept at drawing and painting but was also an accomplished musician and a member of THE KANSAS CITY BAND.  She taught music and formed her own band.  She was able to play every instrument in the band.  Arthur did not want her to accept money for her artistic skills, so she exchanged music lessons for housekeeping.  She enjoyed baking but cared nothing for housework.  Her students were more than happy to make the trade which benefited all.

     In the early 1890’s, the Miller’s moved to Pratt, Kansas where their first child, Mauvra Ladessa, was born in 1892.  Eventually, the family moved back to Wichita, where son Neff X Miller was born on April 13, 1900.  Arthur acquired a large home to accommodate their growing family and all of Lela’s pets and her array of birds.  One pet was a horse she whimsically named “Charlie Horse”.

     Lela was known for her love and knowledge of birds.  She never turned away an injured or unwanted pet.  To accommodate her collection, Arthur built Lela a large aviary.  The family favorite was “Shakespeare”, a very vocal parrot.  Arthur had purchased him for Lela from a vegetable huckster.  Shakespeare amused children by shouting out a variety of fruits and vegetables, by name.  Unfortunately, he could also curse a blue streak, causing the Miller’s embarrassment more than once!

     In 1902, daughter, Joaquin Lela Miller was born.  Four years later, in 1906, Maxreen Paul, their last child and daughter was born.  Maxreen was given the nickname Bobby; in honor of Lela’s beloved brother Robert A. Neff.

     In 1910, the Miller’s left Kansas to resettle in McMinnville, Oregon.  Arthur and Lela purchased a theatre in this city.  In 1915, they opened a second theatre in Grants Pass, Oregon.  The theatres served as both playhouses and movie houses.  Lela and daughter Mauvra would add drama and excitement to the movies by accompanying the silent films with their piano playing.

     By the 1920’s, the Millers relocated to Vallejo, Solano County, California.  Arthur called Lela his “little Gypsy” for she enjoyed moving to new locations.  Arthur received employment outside of Vallejo as a civilian accountant for the Navy on Mares Island.  Lela contently took care of her family and collection of pets.  Among the latter was "One Eyed Pete”, an unfortunate chicken who lost an eye in an accident, but was fortunate enough to become a Miller pet and not some ones meal.

     Around 1926, Lela developed diabetes.  Insulin for the disease would not be developed until two years later in 1928.  The only stabilization offered by the doctor was sugar to prevent diabetic shock.  Without a known cure, Lela passed away in 1927 at age 58.  She was laid to rest at the same cemetery as her parents; The Oddfellows and Masonic in Vallejo, California.  In 1933, Arthur passed away at the home of his youngest daughter, Bobby, living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  His remains were sent to Vallejo to be interred with Lela.

Written by Beverly A. Lacey

Edited by Jennifer A. Seitl

George N. Neff     Robert A. Neff     Sidney George Neff

Joel Neff     Claud Hamilton Neff     Neff Links

Questions or comments, write Jennifer at Jaseitl@hotmail.com

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