North Pole’s ‘Mrs. Santa Claus’ dies at 91
Published Friday, August 15, 2008
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NORTH POLE — Known far and wide for decades as “Mrs. Santa Claus,” Nellie Miller, 91, died Sunday at a residential care home in North Pole as a result of a stroke she suffered a few days earlier.
Mrs. Santa Claus was just one of the many titles that Miller, co-proprietor with her husband, Con, of the Santa Claus House in North Pole, held during her long life as one of the community’s leading residents.
Nellie served on the city’s school board before the borough was created; was magistrate of the city of North Pole in the 1960s; was active in Republican politics, serving as president of the Republican Women’s Club locally and statewide; and was a marriage commissioner for many years, her son Mike Miller recalled.
“She married thousands of people,” said Mike, who served in the state Legislature for 18 years and as Commissioner of Administration under Gov. Frank Murkowski.
“Wherever I went campaigning or around the state, people would say, ‘Your mother married me in the store (Santa Claus House), or she came to my house and married me.’”
Mike said his parents’ pioneering interest in making North Pole a viable community — his father was mayor for 19 years — influenced his and his late brother Terry Miller’s interest in holding public office.
“Between mom and dad, they gave us a lot of grounding and our devotion to public service came from them. Had it not been for them, we would not have understood the importance of public service.”
“We’re the only two siblings who held the Senate president’s office in the state of Alaska or in any other state,” Mike said.
Mike credits his mother with a lot of business acumen learned from running the store in the 1950s and ’60s.
“No one put anything over on her, and I never saw her back down from a fight and I never saw her lose a fight,” he said. “She liked her politics, and she liked her business.”
Nellie’s daughter, Merry Christmas Miller Key, said her mother was a very passionate person about a lot of things — especially her family, Alaska and the family business.
“She was very proud of what she and dad had built.”
Nellie and Con arrived in the Interior in 1950, via Washington state, after a clothing business they ran in the Tri-Cities area of that state failed.
“They were at loose ends,” Merry said. “It was start a new life in (either) Hawaii or Alaska.”
Because they couldn’t afford boat tickets to Hawaii but had a car, Alaska won out, Merry said.
“The were very proud of the fact that they had $1.40 in their pocket when they arrived here,” Merry said.
Both Mike and Merry recall their mother’s diminutive size and determined personality.
“She was a real tough little lady,” Merry said. “She was the matriarch of the family. We all loved her, and all knew when she said something, she meant it. She was five feet tall and 100 pounds, and you didn’t contradict her.”
“She was one of the most generous people you’d ever want to meet,” Merry continued. “She was pretty outspoken, and if you didn’t have an opinion, she’d give you one of hers.”
Mike Dalton first met Nellie in 1963 at a Republican District Convention and admired Nellie’s many years dedicated to education.
“She was very interested in how things in the city of North Pole were developing and extra interested in good schooling,” Dalton said.
“She was a delightful person with a great wit and great sense of humor,” Dalton said. “Sometimes you deal with a lot of dullards, and then someone comes along who lifts your spirits and has a keen intellect. She was refreshing, even though I was not always agreeing with her.”
Another longtime friend, Francine Bush, now of Anchorage, said she learned a lot from Nellie.
“She was my mentor,” said Bush, who last visited Nellie a few years ago when she was in the later stages of Alzheimer’s disease.
“I just loved and adored Nellie — she was a very knowledgeable woman and a great pioneer lady.”
Nellie, one of 15 children, was raised in Colorado, married and left home at age 15. She already had two sons when she married Con — who also had a previous marriage. Her marriage to Con lasted until his death in 1996.
“She was a product of the time that time when she grew up,” Merry said. “She was a very loving person. She loved her family and adored her grandkids.”
Merry said her mother taught her some basic lessons of life: “Make the best of what you have; You have only one family — love and appreciate them; If there is a will, there is a way; You can do it if you think you can.”
Nellie was predeceased by son Terry in 1989 and her husband, Con, in 1996.
She is survived by sons Jack and Ron Brown of Washington state, Mike and Merry and their families in North Pole; 12 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren.
As to their mother’s wishes, the family isn’t planning to hold a public memorial.
“The service for my dad in 1996 was sort of the culmination for her.” Mike said.
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Mrs. Miller was a wonderful lady! My prayers and thoughts to the Miller family during this time. A full life she did lead and leaves a legacy behind.
I just wonder how the headline reads will affect those who believe in Santa and Mrs. Claus.
Yes, I too wondered about the headline. It is going to have a lot of youngsters asking questions - I mean for those people that chose to tell their kids this lie....
My condolences to the family.
I know you, Mr. Woods. I've been reading your comments. You seem like a very angry and lonely man. I know what you meant by your original comment, believe me.
Why can't you just let the community have a nice story about a nice lady? Why do you always have to challenge people? Why can't you just let people think what they think? In my day, we did not try to rustle feathers. We respected our elders. We respected the newspaper and our fellow online commenters.
Now. Say something nice about Mrs. Millerclaus.
All I was trying to say was that we've lost one more old person to the inevitability of death.
Who knows what knowledge this old person had trapped away in their brain that they didn't convey before they passed on to the big house in the sky?
I don't know why my comments were removed, either. I think somebody is out to get us.
Ken, I missed what you wrote earlier, could you re-do?
I'm sure you were just mis-understood.
I dunno. Something to the effect of:
"Another dead old person"
Something like that. I really didn't mean it to be negative.
Honest.
Wow, I'm sorry to have never met these people. Quite an interesting life she had, arriving in Alaska with a $1.40? I would have to have a minimum of $2,000 in cash, and a fist-full of credit cards...
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