Betty Joyce (Powell) Miller of Abingdon, Illinois passed away on April 9th, 2024. She was 82 years old.
Betty was born in Kirkmansville, Kentucky on January 2, 1942. She was the second of three children of Albert Thornton and Lena Rushie (Long) Powell. She loved retelling stories of her childhood and cherished memories growing up in Kentucky. She was a 1960 graduate of Todd County High School in Elkton, Kentucky.
Betty met James Edward “Jim” Miller when Jim was stationed with the 101st Airborne in Ft. Campbell, Kentucky. They said “I Do” on June 12, 1960, and spent 30 of their 50 years together in Downers Grove, Illinois where they built their home and raised three daughters.
Many people knew Betty via the Golden Cup Coffee Shop, located across from Downers Grove’s Belmont train station. Betty owned the restaurant for 13 years, from 1976 through 1989. “The Cup” was well-known for exceptional breakfasts, weekday lunch specials and its distinctive fun-loving camaraderie.
Betty and Jim moved to Abingdon, Illinois in 1989 and Betty began restoring their Folk Victorian era home. She also continued her culinary pursuits managing “Food Avenue” for Target, in nearby Galesburg for 15 years. She retired in 2007.
Betty was pragmatic and hardworking. She collected tea pots, enjoyed landscape painting classes, gardening and antiquing. She adored Scottish Terriers, especially her last Scottie, Merlynn. She will be missed and remembered by many lives she touched and who thought of her as a second mom or “Aunt Betty.”
Betty is survived by daughters Pam (Gary) Booker and Lesley (Donnie) Williams; son-in-law Ken Adams; four grandchildren: Tabatha, Tyler, Eric, and Spencer; great granddaughter Piper; brother James Phil (Deborah) Powell, and several nieces and nephews.
As Betty requested, cremation has been accorded. A Celebration of Life will be scheduled in the future. Hinchliff-Pearson-West Funeral Directors and Cremation Service Abingdon Chapel is assisting the family with arrangements. Online condolences may be made at www.h-p-w.com.
