Patti Lou Lacey Miller obit

Patti Lou Lacey Miller Has Died

 

She was not on the list.

PATTI LACEY MARTIN MILLER 1922~2020

Patti Lacey Martin Miller (1922-2020) was known by her friends and neighbors in Sebastopol as a wife and mother of four children, active in her sorority, Beta Sigma Phi, a good golfer, an excellent bridge player, and in later years, a senior who loved to exercise. For over fifty years, she lived on Mill Station Road in a house that she built with her parents, George and Maud Peach Lacey and designed by her sister Laurette Lacey McMannis. She moved with her daughters, Randee Martin and Lauree Asarian, from Salt Lake City after her husband Michael Martin, Army Air Corp pilot was killed in a training exercise after World War II.

Patti married C. Eugene Miller, a civil engineer and had two children, Mindee de Lacey and Patrick Miller. And if asked what her greatest contribution was, she would always say that it was her children. She encouraged, cared for and taught them to be independent, interested in everything and to do what they loved.

Patti loved cooking for her family, she turned eggs into soufflés and ice cream into Baked Alaska. She was an avid reader. Academics were important and college was a must for her children. After Analy Union High School, they attended UCSB, Cal State Sacramento, UCLA and UC Davis (where Patti had studied Home Economics for one year before she worked in Burbank for the war effort.)

What few people knew, was that before she was twenty, Patti Lacey and her partner, Ray Hirsch were the best of the swing dancers in Hollywood. In 1939, they won the National Jitterbug Championship in Los Angeles. Their dance routine photo was in Life Magazine, taunting Hitler who hated the jitterbug. They were hired as the featured dancers in movies such as Holiday Inn with Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby and Ghost Catchers with Abbot and Costello.

As a child, Patti was a featured singer/dancer with Fanchon and Marco Vaudeville Circuit. When she was 13 years old, she had a driver's license and car to travel to MGM in Culver City. Patti appeared in The Big Store at MGM as a featured dancer with Groucho and Harpo Marx and with Ray Bolger in RKO's Four Jacks and a Jill.

She encouraged her children to perform in music, dance and theatre and was always clear that it was challenging work, rewarding but work and one had to love the opportunity and do their best. In 1974 and 1975, she enjoyed being a choreographer for Santa Rosa JC Theatre Productions. Her senior years found her continuing to exercise and received praise and notoriety for going to Curves in Sebastopol more than 1,000 days while in her 80s and 90s.

Patti's children, grandchildren, Aimee Knese and Chelcee FitzGerald, six great grandchildren and friends celebrate her life, enjoyed and well lived. They have memories of her at family gatherings quietly and enthusiastically appreciating and encouraging them all. Patti Martin Miller passed on at home, All Seasons Elder Care in Sebastopol on March 23, 2020.

 

Actress

Noah Beery Jr. and Lois Collier in The Crimson Canary (1945)

The Crimson Canary

6.5

Girl (uncredited)

1945

 

Andy Devine, Jack Oakie, Peggy Ryan, Arthur Treacher, and June Vincent in That's the Spirit (1945)

That's the Spirit

7.0

Dancer (uncredited)

1945

 

Gloria Jean, Chic Johnson, Ella Mae Morse, Martha O'Driscoll, and Ole Olsen in Ghost Catchers (1944)

Ghost Catchers

5.5

Jitterbug Dancer (uncredited)

1944

 

Desi Arnaz, Ray Bolger, Jack Durant, Fritz Feld, Eddie Foy Jr., June Havoc, and Anne Shirley in Four Jacks and a Jill (1942)

Four Jacks and a Jill

5.4

Jitterbug Specialty (uncredited)

1942

 

Susan Hayward, Frances Farmer, Harry Carey, and Albert Dekker in Among the Living (1941)

Among the Living

6.4

Jitterbug Dancer (uncredited)

1941

 

Ginger Britton, Beatrice Curtis, Donald Kerr, and Patti Lacey in Souls in Pawn (1940)

Souls in Pawn

5.8

Patsy

1940

 

Mad Youth (1939)

Mad Youth

5.0

Jitter Bug

1939

 

Arthur Lake, Larry Simms, and Penny Singleton in Blondie Meets the Boss (1939)

Blondie Meets the Boss

6.7

Jitterbug Dancer (uncredited)

1939