Lana Louise Lawson Miller
In Loving Memory
Lana Louise Lawson Miller passed away peacefully on July 12, 2025, at her residence in Bellingham, Washington, following a brief illness with uterine cancer and subsequent renal failure.
Born in Dallas, Texas, on April 5, 1943, Mrs. Miller resided within ten miles of her birthplace until 2009, at which time she relocated to Austin, Texas, to be near her daughter and first grandchild.
A graduate of Mesquite High School, Lana went on to earn her Bachelor of Science from Southern Methodist University and her Master of Arts from East Texas State University.
Lana was a beloved teacher for the Mesquite Independent School District for over 30 years. Throughout her career she taught English at Mesquite High School, served as librarian at Hodges Elementary School, guided gifted and talented 7th graders at Agnew Middle School, and was enriched and challenged teaching a three-year humanities program at West Mesquite High School, where she retired in 1998. She loved keeping up with her former students and their children and grandchildren; her daughter often joked that Facebook was her second job.
Deeply committed to her faith and community, Lana was a long-time member of Mesquite United Methodist Church, which included her time as organist. She was an active member of Munger Place United Methodist Church, serving as a lay leader, pianist, and Vacation Bible School teacher. Over the years, she devoted her time to numerous volunteer organizations, including Lighthouse for the Blind, the Munger Place Food Pantry, ESL programs for Vietnamese refugees in Dallas, and Hospice of Austin.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Ima Lee Browning Lawson and Robert June Lawson of Mesquite, Texas.
Lana is survived by her loving husband of nearly 60 years, Ernest Benge Miller, Jr.; her daughter, Meredith Louise Miller Hodgkinson; her son-in-law, Bradley John Hodgkinson; and her grandchildren, Hannah Henri and Charles Houston Hodgkinson, all of Bellingham, Washington; and her sister, Donna Lawson Crook of Mesquite, Texas.
She is interred at the Bayview Cemetery in Bellingham, Washington.