Debra Lynn Miller

Debra Lynn Miller, wife of Jack Miller, died on Friday 19 September 2025.

Debbie was born on 8 June 1962 in South Bend, Indiana, to Yale and Ilyne Burke. She graduated from Adams High School in 1980 and went on to attend Indiana University-Bloomington, where she attained a business degree with a specialty in marketing. Debbie and Jack met in a freshman biology class, waiting for a discussion section in Morrison Hall, the home of the Kinsey Research Institute. It was love at first sight. Their romance included university film series, concerts, plays, and lecture series including Kurt Vonnegut and Marcel Marceau. After graduation, they were married 12 August 1984.

Soon after, they moved to Evanston, Illinois, where Jack began graduate studies and Debbie started in sales at Betty's of Winnetka and later Joseph A. Bank's, Clothiers, in Skokie. While there, they first car, Marshall, appeared in the background of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

In 1987, the couple relocated to Bryan, Texas. Jack worked as a contract archaeologist and Debbie worked for a series of companies ranging from sales to business support and travel. As a travel agent she made familiarization trips to Europe and the Caribbean and earned accreditation as a Disney Travel Agent. Debbie supported her husband as he worked to advance his graduate career.

Debbie was active in numerous organizations: Business and Professional Women, Planned Parenthood, the Brazos County Democratic Party, the Brazos Progressives, and the Brazos Valley African American Museum. Debbie was recognized by the Progressives in 2007 with the first Rock On award, and by the African American Museum in 2017 with the Community Service & Volunteer Award.

Debbie's not-so-secret talent was in the kitchen--she loved cooking for family and friends and was an excellent cook. Her dessert offerings caused bidding wars at fund raisers.

Debbie became part of the whole Jewish community in B/CS, an active participant in all three congregations and a member of a havurah group in the 1990s. Debbie taught in the Beth Shalom Sunday School and served as the principal for one year.

Against her better judgment, Debbie was introduced by Jack to the Svengoolie horror movie show. Through the program's online community, they found many new friends across the country. They attended the first "BigBlogCast" in 2016 in Metropolis, Illinois, where these friendships became more than a name on a blog screen. In 2018, Debbie was instrumental in bringing the third annual BigBlogCast to Bryan/College Station.

A life-long Cubs fan, Debbie was overjoyed to witness her favorite team win the 2016 World Series.