Joan M. Miller

Joan was born in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania on November 11, 1962. She grew up in Chester Springs, PA, just down the street from the old post office.

She received her Plant Pathology degree from Penn State in 1984, where she met her future husband, Don. Together they set out on a journey following the long and winding road. First, they landed in Boulder, CO. After a few years of trucking around Colorado and enjoying bluegrass music in Telluride, it was on to West Palm Beach, FL, where she worked in the Lettuce Breeding Program for the University of Florida.

After that, it was back across the country with two cats in the car to Forest Grove, OR. She hiked through many old growth forests and whale watched along the Pacific Coast. Upstate New York was next, much closer to her cherished family. In New York, she shined while working and teaching Entomology at Cornell University. It was here she was diagnosed with cancer, which was just a temporary setback for a determined, courageous, and driven person. After dealing with cancer, it was on to Newark, DE, where she began her final career with the USDA as a Plant Protection Quarantine Officer at the Philadelphia International Airport. Promotions led Joan back home to Pennsylvania, finally settling on a farm in Stillwater, PA.

Despite chronic illnesses, she fought on to begin Dancing Hen Farm in 2007. Lunches on the porch with her mom and the farm crew were a real joy later in life. Chasing the loose pigs off the porch was probably not as much of a joy. Sadly, her illness cut her career short, but her involvement with Dancing Hen Farm did not stop until the Lord eased her pain.

She will be greatly missed by her life partner of 38 years, Don, as well as Joyce, Mike, Farmers Phil and Matt, Betty, Alan, Keith, Andy, many more family members, the Dancing Hen Community, and most of all, her pup, Dilly. In lieu of flowers, please "share the harvest" with our friends at Verve Vertu Art Studio in Dallas, PA.        

The McMichael Funeral Home, Inc., of Benton, is honored to serve the Miller/Hess Family.  For online condolences or for additional information, please visit our website:  www.mcmichaelfuneralhome.com

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