Sandra "Sandy" Huff Miller

Sandra “Sandy” H. Miller

Batesburg – A 55-year love story came to a physical end on Friday, August 14th when Sandra Huff Miller was welcomed into the arms of Jesus after several long health battles. At the end, Sandy was where she longed to be – at home, surrounded in love by her devoted husband, Richard Miller, Jr. and her beloved children, Ritchie and Crissie.

Born in York County, SC on November 3, 1949, Sandy was the second daughter and middle of five children of the late Claude and Edna McClintock Huff; Sandy spent her life as a resident of Aiken County, never living more than ten miles from her parents’ home in Foxtown.

Sandy spent much of her working career filling accounting roles at various businesses, including Riegel Textiles (a job she started the Monday after her high school graduation) and Columbia College before retiring from her working career in 2005.

While Sandy is remembered by all for her early morning Facebook messages and phone calls and exhibiting quiet and kind mannerisms, she was the epitome of a fighter – having conquered numerous health scares and challenges over the last 20 years of her life, which included a brain aneurysm, pacemaker placement, COPD, lung cancer, and emergency open-heart surgery. She rarely complained and hated ever asking anyone for help, but always made sure she sincerely thanked anyone who helped her in the smallest of ways.

Her faith in God was a focal point in her life as she spent her entire life as a member of Southern Baptist churches, growing up at Oak Grove Baptist Church and then later in her life, spending Sundays in the pews at both Mt. Ebal Baptist Church and Ridge Spring Baptist Church.

Sandy and Richard were married at Oak Grove Baptist Church on August 28, 1971, and grew their family with the births of Ritchie (Wendi) in 1973 and Crissie in 1978. While her children brought her immense joy, her greatest loves after Richard were her grandchildren: Brice Miller (Amelia), Pierce and Smith Kirby, and Ryland Fincher; and her great-grandson, Reece Miller, who brought her ultimate joy in the last year of her life. She delighted in attending ball games when her health allowed and having them visit with her.

Along with her immediate family, Sandy is survived by her brother, Wayne Huff (Carolyn), and Richard’s siblings who always treated her like one of their own siblings and not just an in-law: Minnie Connelly (Ronnie), Dora Mae Coleman, and Darnell Miller; along with numerous nieces, nephews, and other relatives who loved her. Sandy was preceded in death by her parents, her father and mother-in-law (Richard Miller, Sr., and Mary Lee Miller), her brothers Buddy Huff and Donnie Huff, sister Kay Huff Carros, and brother-in-law, Robert Coleman.

The funeral service to celebrate the life of Sandy will be held at 11 o'clock on Saturday, August 22nd at Ridge Spring Baptist Church with the Rev. John Chambers and Rev. Dean Hill officiating. Entombment will follow at 1 o'clock at Southlawn Cemetery, Aiken. Family and friends are invited to a visitation on Friday evening, August 21st from 5 until 7 o'clock at Milton Shealy Funeral Home, Batesburg-Leesville Chapel.

Active pallbearers will be Brice Miller, Pierce Kirby, Smith Kirby, Ryland Fincher, Tom Sawyer, and Jimmy Quattlebaum. Honorary pallbearers will be the Honorable C. David Sawyer, Phillip Yon, Kevin Yon, and Trenton Cromer.

The family appreciates the exceptional love and care given to Sandy over the last eighteen months by caregivers Ilka Hendrix and Ailine Fox (Richard’s cousin), and the care provided to her in her final days and weeks by the nurses and staff of Gentiva Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, the family would ask that you make memorial gifts in Sandy’s memory to Connie Maxwell Children’s Home, 810 Maxwell Avenue, Greenwood, SC 29646.