LOVE ON WHEELS

A long life of admiring and collecting cars and their memorabilia is displayed at Leo Miller’s Lake Chelan Auto Museum

- VICKI OLSON CARR

Like many Chelan County pioneers, Merlen and Grace Miller piled their family and a few belongings into a car and fled Kansas during the Dust Bowl days and the Great Depression.

Driving west, they settled down in Deming near Bellingham in 1935. However, their youngest son, Leo Stanley Miller, developed painful arthritis and rheumatic fever. In and out of the hospital, Leo missed most of the third grade.

Hearing that eastern Washington had a dry, sunny and maybe healthier climate, the Miller family loaded up one more time, drove east to Carlton. Chelan, however, became their final destination and Leo quickly returned to full health.

Leo Miller loved his FFA activities in high school and was unit president. He also played basketball. The Chelan high school team made it all the way to the state tournament in 1954 with Leo as team captain. He was also named most inspirational player twice.

In high school, he drove a 1940 Mercury coupe. “It was gray, had spinners and skirts, and was lowered,” he recalled with a grin. But his most important high school memory was receiving a $50 bill one Christmas from the apple grower he worked for during harvest and summer vacations. His work ethic had value.

After graduation, Leo Miller drove his 1950 Ford up the Alcan Highway to work that summer in a gold mining operation near Fox, just outside Fairbanks. “Back in Chelan, I went to work at one of the apple warehouses for $1.25 an hour,” Leo said, chuckling and shaking his head as he recalled the minimal wages.

Later he worked for the Lake Chelan Boat Company for five years helping to haul passengers, mail and freight up and down Lake Chelan. Then Leo worked for Chelan Box & Manufacturing towing log booms down lake to the saw mill.