Carl Miller, 94, Longtime Owner Of A Seattle Import-Export Firm

Carl Miller set the tone for many people whose lives he touched.

Longtime owner of the Carl F. Miller Co., an import-export firm he started in Seattle in 1927, Mr. Miller "marked many lives," according to Phil Smart Sr., founder of Phil Smart, Inc., 600 E. Pike St.

For several years in the 1950s, Smart worked for Mr. Miller as a salesman and learned that, "he was full to overflowing with integrity . . . his business operations always had the highest standards. He never compromised on quality."

Mr. Miller became one of Smart's mentors. "I reflect in many ways the character of this man I admired in every way," Smart said.

Mr. Miller, who was known as "Carload Miller" for his practice of importing quantities of chemicals and other supplies by the carload, died April 2 at the age of 94.

Matthew Barnes, Mr. Miller's grandson, said his grandfather remained active until he died. "He was still driving at 92, not always safely, but he was still driving," Barnes recalled.

Mr. Miller had a heart attack while undergoing gallbladder surgery, and he died three hours later without regaining consciousness, Barnes said.

Mr. Miller was born in Huntingdon, Penn., in 1897, where he was raised. He graduated from Gettysburg College during the later stages of World War I and while still in college he also took military training at Camp Colt.

Camp Colt's commanding officer was Lt. Col. Dwight D. Eisenhower, and many years later Mr. Miller joked to a friend, "If the war had lasted any longer, I would have been a general."

Mr. Miller came to Seattle in 1926, on the recommendation of a friend, Barnes said. He liked it, stayed and in 1927 started the Carl. F. Miller Co. on Sixth Avenue South.

Mr. Miller was married to Dorothy Pakeman in 1928. She died in 1985.

Mr. Miller's business imported chemicals and raw materials for paints, laundry products and foundry supplies.

He ran the business until the early 1960s, when he sold most of it to what became the Great Western Chemical Co., and R.A. Barnes, Inc. Mr. Miller sold the remainder of his business in 1975.

Mr. Miller also was noted for his sense of humor. Jim Warren, a longtime friend and historian of the Downtown Seattle Rotary Club where Mr. Miller was a member for 60 years, recalled, "He was always coming up with some outlandish statement that was really funny."

"He had no compunction about standing up during Rotary speeches and asking funny questions or deflating someone if they had been too high-falutin," Warren recalled.

"He made his mark with his personality. Everyone liked old Carl," Warren said. He often would tell friends that the secret to his longevity was "no exercise," Warren recalled.

Besides the Rotary, Mr. Miller was a member of the Rainier Club and a staunch Republican, Barnes said. He served as state co-chairman of the "I Like Ike" election campaign in 1952. He also was involved in drives for muscular dystrophy.

Besides several grandchildren, Mr. Miller also is survived by a daughter, Leonie Miller Barnes of Seattle.

The family suggests remembrances to the Seattle Rotary Service Foundation, 1118 Unigard Financial Center, Seattle, 98161. Services have already been held.