Jerome "Jerry" Benson Miller

Jerome “Jerry” Benson Miller, age 87, of Sebeka, Minnesota, died suddenly in a car accident on January 5, 2026. The funeral service for Jerry will be at 10:00 am on Wednesday, January 14, 2026, at the Living Hope Family Church of Sebeka. The visitation will be from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, at the Wevley Funeral Home of Sebeka. The visitation will continue at the church from 9:00 am to 10:00 am on the day of the funeral.

Jerry was born on July 16, 1938, to Edwin and Alice (Benson) Miller, the first of five children. As the oldest, he was undefeated in fights until he started public school, when his winning streak ended.

He was Sebeka High School's valedictorian in the class of 1956. He then attended the University of Minnesota and graduated in 1961 with an education degree, majoring in mathematics with a minor in physical education (to allow him to coach). His first teaching job was as a high school math teacher and a head basketball coach in Bricelyn, Minnesota, where he stayed for 2 years. He then spent a year teaching math and coaching basketball in Mabel, Minnesota, before moving on to Morris, Minnesota, where he taught math, was the assistant basketball coach, and became the head track and cross-country coach. He taught in Morris for a decade. In 1969, he married his first wife, Carol Kopitzke. They later separated and then divorced.

He moved back to Sebeka in the 1970s. His initial plan was to become a full-time sheep rancher on the farm his grandfather Miller homesteaded in 1885. And while he did continue raising sheep, he ended up becoming a long-term substitute math teacher in Sebeka after an unexpected death on the faculty, and the next year he was hired as a permanent math teacher. He taught high school math in Sebeka full time until the 1990s. Former students often recall his unique way of teaching SOH - CAH - TOA many years later.

In the early 1980s he met a woman named Susie Vasko at his church. They didn’t particularly like each other, and they fell out of contact. In 1987, after running a road race at Walker’s Eelpout Festival, he watched the local news coverage and saw that the lone fisherman they interviewed was named Gary Vasko. He remembered Susie and gave her a call. That fisherman happened to be Susie’s brother, and the date happened to be February 14, and Jerry and Susie were married later that year on November 7, 1987. A couple of years later they became foster parents for a little girl named Mary. Initially they were told they wouldn’t be able to adopt Mary for policy reasons, but later social services reversed their decision and Jerry and Susie adopted Mary. Jerry was told that he wouldn’t be able to have biological children, but the doctors were wrong and their son Jonathan was born in 1993. Jerry then took an early retirement option to spend more time with his kids. He taught part-time and drove school bus for Sebeka for several more years. He later taught math at Verndale, for a year, and then began teaching part time and driving a bus (and later a van) for the Freshwater Education District.

He was deeply devoted to his Christian faith beginning in his youth and throughout his entire life. He was raised Lutheran, but in his teenage years he began to realize that going to church and following rules weren’t enough; there was something missing. In college he understood that the missing piece was a personal relationship with Jesus Christ, whom he accepted as his Lord and Savior at that time. He was a faithful follower of Christ from that point onward. He attended a few churches and eventually found a group, many of whose members were former hippies, meeting in a home. That became his church, and he followed it as it expanded into a church building. Although that congregation disbanded, that building currently houses The Old Country Church, where he was the pastor beginning in the 1990s and continuing until his death. He was always adamant that the church wasn’t “the Jerry show” and preferred to call himself “master of ceremonies” instead of pastor.

Family was extremely important to him. He was a devoted and loving husband to Susie and always ensured her care. He was the best Dad that anyone has ever had. He spent tons of time playing with his kids, building a playhouse and a treehouse, and teaching them sports. He was always there any time his kids needed him, from homework to medical emergencies to simply helping with errands. He was always very patient and kind. In the words of his siblings, Jerry was always a really good brother, from childhood on through life. One of his greatest joys in his later years was being a grandpa; he loved spending time with his grandson Ethan and was so proud of Ethan’s accomplishments. He was an excellent uncle to his nieces and nephews and showed his genuine interest in them through his meaningful conversations. He also enjoyed visiting with his cousins and other extended family; he attended nearly every Miller cousin reunion, which for many years was a biennial event hosted by Miller cousins in various parts of the U.S.

His original passion in the realm of education was coaching, particularly basketball. After starting out with a 2-27 record it became clear that he was not the next John Wooden, though he continued to coach various sports, particularly track and cross country. Ironically, he found his greatest success after burning out and making it his goal to be done coaching within 5 years. At that point, God chose to bless the Sebeka track team, and they won the first district championship for Sebeka in any sport in many years. In the 1980s, he started the Knowledge Bowl program at Sebeka and won a number of single class regional titles in a region that included much larger cities like Little Falls and Brainerd. One of his teams got 3rd place in the state in a one-class state tournament. He later coached junior high knowledge bowl, developing the talent pipeline that won the state high school meet two years in a row, in 2010 and 2011.

He loved sports. Early in life, he thought he would become a Major League Baseball player, but when he realized that his athletic strengths lay in distance running, he became an accomplished track athlete in high school and then took up cross country running, becoming the first cross country runner at Sebeka High School and going on to become a NCAA Division I letterman in cross country at the University of Minnesota. He was a distance runner during his adulthood, commonly running road races in the area, and ran 6 days a week into his 60s. He also played town team baseball for many years, in his words “overachieving to become average”.

He was a huge supporter of Sebeka school his entire life, as a student, teacher, coach, and fan. More broadly he was a huge supporter of the community of Sebeka and the surrounding area his whole life. He knew a great deal of lore about the town and its inhabitants and shared that in historical tours during the 100th and 125th anniversary celebrations. In addition to being a teacher and rancher, he was a member of the Sebeka C&C, was a member of the Todd-Wadena nominating committee, was involved with the Sebeka Historical Society, and briefly ran a dairy bar cafe in town.

He had many other pursuits in his free time. He was a thoughtful and articulate writer, starting with his editing of the high school newspaper, and continuing throughout his life, often with biting commentaries sent to local newspapers as well as multiple letters to the editor published in the Minnesota Star Tribune. He raised sheep for over 60 years and was wrangling them until he sold his flock in 2024 at the age of 85. Later in life he sometimes enlisted the help of others with big sheep projects like shearing; in these cases it typically took 2-3 people to do the work that he had done by himself. He also enjoyed acrostic puzzles, math contests, watching sports, and reading the newspaper.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Edwin and Alice (Benson) Miller, and by his sister Judy Young.

He is survived by his wife Susie; his children Jonathan Miller and Mary (Ryan) Delaske; his grandson Ethan Delaske; his siblings Fred (Cynthia) Miller, Glenn Miller, Marilyn Newsom, and brother-in-law Bernie Young; and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.