| Graduation Year | Faculty |
| Date of Passing | Dec 28, 2005 |
| About | The following obituary was published in the Fort Worth Star Telegram: Dixie Joe Miller Porcher 1940 - 2005 Dixie Joe Miller Porcher, 65, loving mother, grandmother, teacher and friend, was called home to her Lord and Master on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2005. Funeral: 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 7, at Grace Lutheran Church in Arlington, with Pastor David Joeckel officiating. Burial: Moore Memorial Gardens. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at the funeral home. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the family requests contributions be made to Grace Lutheran Church, 210 W. Park Row Drive, Arlington, Texas 76010, or a charity of choice in Dixie's memory. She was born Feb. 6, 1940, to Joseph Floyd Miller and Hazel Viola Stricklan Miller in Fort Smith, Ark. She graduated from Van Buren High School in Arkansas in 1956. She attended Fort Smith Junior College (now the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith) and Texas Woman's University in Denton, receiving both bachelor of arts and bachelor of science degrees in education/chemistry in 1960 and her master's degree from the University of North Texas in 1988. Other educational interests included graduate teaching assistant in the Department of Chemistry at Texas Woman's University and cancer research at Parkland Memorial Hospital, Dallas. Dixie was an awesome teacher who inspired thousands of students who came to love her during her 40 years of service in the Arlington ISD. She taught at Ousley and Ferguson junior highs and Lamar and Martin high schools, teaching primarily chemistry, but also other sciences and vocational occupational education. As a young girl and teen-ager, Dixie became an accomplished swimmer, ballerina and roller skater, frequently performing with a championship skater from Germany who had immigrated to the United States. In her later years, she became an avid gardener, a love that continued throughout the rest of her life. Her greatest accomplishments were the prize irises, roses and orchids she grew, her favorite flowers. She also adored her grandchildren, spending quality time with them, just as she always adored her precious daughters. The family would like to thank Drs. Mark Batrice and Dr. Francis Tacka and the staff at Kindred Hospital, as well as Pastor David Joeckel, for their compassionate and loving care during the last few months of her illness. Preceding her in death were her parents, Joseph Floyd and Hazel Viola Miller; and a daughter, Elizabeth Chevallier. Survivors: Daughter, Annalisa Porcher; grandchildren, Tiffany and Samantha Chevallier of Maypearl and Josh, Elizabeth and Jacob Jackson of Arlington; and many, many friends. |
