Ken Miller Memorial Scholarship

Kenneth Dale Miller lived in Grays Harbor since he was about 6 years old. He was born in Culbertson, MT on August 24, 1929 during the Great Depression. His family worked their way to Grays Harbor arriving when the bad times were still in effect. They stayed with relatives who were already living here.

He worked all his life trying to get ahead. They first dug clams and cleaned and ate them every day. When World War II started in 1941 he was 12 and by the time he was 15 he was working at different grocery stores in Hoquiam. The family had lived at Lake Quinault for a few years until he started at Jr. High in Hoquiam. His father had died very young so there wasn’t much money to be had at the time so he continued to work.

After high school he worked at various places in Hoquiam and then was able to attend photography school in Seattle. Then the Korean War started and he was drafted into the Army. He spent his time in the service in France, even in the Army covering 3 different jobs.

He then worked at various jobs in Hoquiam, married his boss’s daughter, Lauretta (Bowie) Bergstrom. He took over Bergstrom Foundry after Mr. Bergstrom died. Scholarships started in his mind after the Hoquiam High School was torn down after 1969. He and his classmate and army buddy, Chuck Stover, worked very hard cleaning the bricks from the school, decorating them with plaques and selling them for the Class of 1948 Scholarship fund.

Ken died suddenly in July 2009 after complications from pancreatic cancer. The bricks sold before he died made donations to the scholarship fund for his Class of ’48 fund total $10,000. Now, as a result of his estate and that of his wife Lauretta there is a fund at the Grays Harbor Community Foundation to keep his plan going.