Bennetta Helen Loggins Miller, centenarian and long-time resident of Columbia, Tennessee, died on Wednesday, August 12, 2020, at NHC Maury Regional Transitional Care Center at age 100. She was born January 5, 1920, in Charlotte, Tennessee, to Dr. Lemuel Farmer Loggins and Frances Pearl Dickson Loggins. Her mother Pearl, a gifted musician, filled their home with music. Helen recalled her childhood years with her three sisters as a magical time. In 1938, after Helen’s father died and fire destroyed her home, she moved with her mother and sisters to a new home on Garland Avenue in Nashville. Helen attended Peabody College, graduating in 1942.
Helen met her future husband, Clay Rozear Miller, then a Vanderbilt medical student, in a Sunday School class at Nashville’s West End Methodist Church. They married on June 20, 1943, at Helen’s Garland Avenue home, just before the U.S. Army deployed Clay to the European Theater. Helen taught school in Nashville while Clay served as a Captain in the Army Medical Corp.
After the war, Helen and Clay moved to Columbia, Tennessee. While Clay built his solo medical practice, Helen served with the King’s Daughters’ School, taught Sunday School, and volunteered with several community organizations, often in leadership positions. After Clay retired at 71, she and Clay traveled widely, spending time with children and grandchildren, frequently at their favorite retreat—their mountain cottage at the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly in Monteagle, Tennessee.
Helen’s husband, Dr. Clay Rozear Miller, preceded her in death, as did her sisters Maurine Loggins Lyons and Lucille Loggins Scott. She is survived by her younger sister, Marjorie Hornaday Oexmann of Owensboro, Kentucky; her daughters Lynne Miller Haas of Chattanooga, Tennessee, June Dickson Miller (Robert Wilson) Edmonds of Little Rock, Arkansas, and Dawn Rozear Miller (John Samuel) Logan of Arlington, Virginia; grandchildren Andrea Lynne Nichols, Clay Mason Haas, Jonathan David Haas, Jason Clay Edmonds, Dr. Shannon Lee Edmonds Ardoin, Laura Dawn Edmonds Kryzanowsky, Dr. Holly Dickson Edmonds-Barassi, David Hall Logan, Dr. Carol Rozear Logan Vincent, Paul Russell Logan, and Captain Andrew Dickson Logan, USMC—together with eighteen great-grandchildren.
The private family graveside service will take place at the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly Cemetery at 3:00 p.m. on August 22, with Helen’s grandsons and nephews serving as pallbearers. Memorial gifts may be made to the Monteagle Sunday School Assembly Endowment Fund or to the First United Methodist Church in Columbia, Tennessee. Condolences may be extended to Helen’s family through www.oakesandnichols.com.
