Joan Miller

My flying career started in 1989 in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island. Being somewhat isolated, it seemed a desirable way to get off the island. I took lessons in a Cessna 150 and soloed at Orcas Island Airport with 9 hours of instruction. I received my private license in 1992. I became a co-owner of a Cessna 172 in Friday Harbor and flew mostly for pleasure as well as to the mainland for a company I worked for. As the old timers in the area weren’t keen on using radios, I had numerous exciting encounters. I was a member of the Ninety Nines and am a recent member of EAA and enjoy working on the Young Eagles program.

I grew up in the Seattle area and worked in administration for colleges all my life until retirement in Port Angeles in 2006. I also took flying lessons in Hawaii, where I worked for the University of Hawaii for two years. While in Friday Harbor, I lived on my boat and worked at the University of Washington Labs. I met Dave Miller by answering his newspaper ad (before electronic dating). He mentioned flying and I was humbled, to say the least, when I learned of his many accomplishments in aviation compared to my recent achievements. But we share a love of flying and were avid motorcyclists over the past 25 years.

Dave and I are fortunate to travel a great deal and are checking off the bucket list items. We recently spent a month in France, including a canal trip, piloting a boat through locks and lovely little French towns. This Fall, we were on a European river trip through Germany and Austria. We hope to see some of the U.S. in the RV14 he and his partner, Bill Benedict, just finished building. Other travel hopes are New Zealand, Scotland, Italy and Southeast Asia and more … .

Other interests are quilting and knitting. My quilting takes me to Sisters, Oregon with friends every summer to the Outdoor Quilt Show and classes. Dave and I volunteer for the DART program, a volunteer airlift resource available to help communities and emergency responders cope with a local disaster. I am also a member of the Sequim Soroptimist program, helping women achieve their goals and dreams.