Karen Mashburn Miller

After graduation I attended Oklahoma City University taking evening courses and working for the Dolese Brothers where I was inventory controller in their accounting department. In 1962 I started working for Merrill Lynch in Oklahoma City shortly after met my husband to be Michael Collins Miller. We were married in Oklahoma City in 1962. Moving to Norman, OK so Michael could attend the University of Oklahoma I commuted daily by bus to Oklahoma City where I continued to work full time for Merrill Lynch until Michael graduated. Michael graduated in 1965 with a BBA in Business. September 1965 we began the corporate life with Continental Oil moving to Lafayette, LA, Casper, WY, Denver CO, Ponca City, OK, Houston, TX, back to Lafayette for our final location with Conoco. Our life with Conoco provided us with many new experiences and new friends. We moved to Lake Charles, LA in 1969 where we have continued to live for the past 40 years.

After twelve years of marriage, Mike and I decided to adopt a child from the Edna Gladney home in Fort Worth, TX. Our daughter Laura Brandle Miller has been a blessing to both of us. Laura has a degree from McNeese State University in psychology and is now married to Brian Drews. Laura now uses her degree while rearing identical twin daughters Kylie Brandle and Kourtney Brianna, and a son Zachary Carl Drews.

My past 40 years of volunteerism has provided an extremely diverse background. Junior League in 1972 where I was Provisional Class Chairman, Treasurer of the Nearly New Shop, Liberty Bells music therapy group performing in nursing homes and I continue to sing with this group as a Sustainer. Calcasieu Arts and Humanities Council Board Member, Lake Charles Ballet Society Board Member, Lake Charles Symphony Auxiliary Board Member, Louisiana Choral Foundation Charter Board Member, Family and Youth Counseling Board Member, and The Bishop Noland Episcopal Day School Board Member, Parents’ Guild Chairman and Church School Superintendant.

Mike and I enjoyed global traveling to England, France, Scotland and the Holy Land as well as the many part of the United States. 1984 was a year of exciting highs and difficult lows. The high was a 5 week trip to England with Laura and my goddaughter Courtney Meek. We learned how children in other countries lived and enjoyed the exposure to the culture of that country. The low of that year was the loss of several close members of my family and the end of my 27 years of marriage. The benefits of the end of a marriage, that many people will find, is the wisdom, grace, humility and courage to face life on your own, the loving friends who are always there for you through thick and thin, and the many new discoveries and capabilities of one’s self. The Episcopal Church has been a active part of my life since college days. It played an essential role in getting me through the highs and lows in life. One of the new found talents was discovered in the last 6 years of my working career when I began working with Autistic children. The love that I have for children has allowed me to nurture and mentor many children from infancy to college graduation. My love for children took me in 2008 to a children’s orphanage in Guatemala which was started by a Minister from Lake Charles nineteen years ago. This was a very rewarding experience with very happy and appreciative children who lived in poverty.

One of the many things that I love about Lake Charles is the beautiful old homes and old stately trees. 1992 I became a single home owner of a lovely Arts and Crafts cottage built in 1920. Moving in after 5 months of renovating the inside, I was asked to show my home on the Calcasieu Preservation Society Palm Sunday tour of homes. In 2002 a decorative plaque was installed by my front door designating my home as a historical structure in the Charptenier Historical district. Hurricane Rita hit in 2005. Lake Charles became a ghost town during the hurricane and it was two weeks before we could return to Lake Charles due to the infrastructure being completely destroyed. I evacuated to Laura’s home in Fort Worth, then staying with family and friends in Oklahoma City and Tulsa. Word traveled that Hurricane Rita devastated Lake Charles’s beautiful stately trees and many structures. I returned home to happily discover that only my fence was damaged.

Along with traveling, grass does not grow under my feet, reading, cooking, and entertaining my friends and family, music and the arts

My favorite story from my Harding days was my Driver’s Ed experience!! I received my first driver’s license when I was 40 years old because I was so traumatized by the school experience. Bicycles, taxi cabs and friends were my modes of transportation for decades. As many of my friends know I was the only one in my class that had never been behind the wheel of a car. Jerry Potter, our wonderful coach, had the golden opportunity of attempting to teach me how to drive. My first experience was driving in reverse without turning my head to see where I was going. This frustrated Coach Potter as I might hit something or someone. He continued to tap my cheek trying to get me to turn my head around to watch where I was going. When I turned the corners I somehow managed to ride upon the curb while hitting the horn and embarrassing my classmates causing them to hide their heads. Needless to say I was Coach Potter’s most challenging student.