‘A simple guy’: Editor of Post Register passes away unexpectedly at home
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IDAHO FALLS — A devoted father, a diehard Colts fan and a simple man, John Gilpin Miller, editor of the Post Register, passed away Tuesday at his home at the age of 65.
Travis Quast, regional president of Adams MultiMedia East Idaho and publisher of the Post Register, said Miller’s passing surprised all of them.
“It just really hasn’t sunk in,” Quast said. “I just keep expecting him to walk around the corner and in my door.”
Miller became the editor of the Bingham County Chronicle in 2019 after leaving the Blackfoot Morning News, Quast said.
In 2021, Miller became the editor of the Post Register.
Quast said that Miller, born and raised in Idaho, helped the publications he worked with better understand the area’s culture and inner workings.
“He was an incredible guy and an integral part of our team. We’re definitely feeling his loss,” Quast said.
EastIdahoNews.com also spoke with John’s children, Alicia and Curtis Miller, about his passing and their memories of him.
“He was a simple guy,” Alicia Miller, daughter of Miller, said. “He didn’t need much. He always just wanted to take care of his family.”
According to John’s obituary, he was born in Salmon on Feb. 17, 1961. Alicia said her father never knew his dad, as he had died before John was born.
She said John did his best to be a good husband and father figure to her, her two other brothers, Curtis and Grant, and her sons, Ayven and Brighton Miller, and to his sister, Lynda “Kay” Powers.
Curtis said his father faced many hardships growing up, which included the death of his younger brother, also named Curtis.
“(John) said he remembered having to make the phone calls that, yeah, he was 7 years old, and had to make the phone calls to the family to let them know that his older brother had died in his sleep beside him,” Grant said.
Aside from journalism, John was an avid music fan, working at two radio stations in eastern Idaho and sharing that love with his family.
“He relied on music. He would pull himself into the song,” Alicia said.
His son Curtis said that John’s taste in music favored bands like Kansas, the Beatles, Stevie Wonder and Queen. Jokingly, he said that John’s wife could be found at odds when it came to music.
“We didn’t listen to Dad’s music around Mom, but when Dad was taking us to school and back, he would play our music for us, and it felt very transgressive,” Curtis said.
John was the head deacon at Wasatch Hills Seventh-day Adventist Church in Salt Lake City in 1998, according to his obituary.
Alicia recalls that John was often a person who didn’t need much, but would find ways to help out whenever he could. During his time as head deacon, she remembers her father helping members of the church pack their belongings during moves or taking it upon himself to repaint the lines in the parking lot.
“He had a smile on his face, but literally by hand with a street paintbrush, painted the lines of the parking spots,” Alicia said.
This spirit of service also went to his family, as Alicia said. When his wife lost her parents a few years ago, John was there to take care of her and tend to their horses.
Curtis said his brother attended a private Christian school, and John volunteered and became a defensive coach for the school’s Little League.
When it came time for his grandkids, Alicia said John would find ways to help her out and ensure he’d be another father figure for them.
“He would buy my kids diapers; he loved us. He loved his kids, his wife,” Alicia said.
Regarding football, Curtis, who lived in Washington, D.C., had his parents over at his apartment. He remembers his mom and John had made dinner, and saw his father on the couch watching football.
“I was like, ‘Wow, this is the best thing ever. There’s Dad in front of the TV watching football.’ They made my apartment feel more like home, even when they weren’t there,” Curtis said.
John’s family has set up a GoFundMe to assist them in covering funeral expenses. Click here to donate.
According to John’s obituary, a viewing will be held on March 8 at the Hawker Funeral Home, 132 South Shilling Avenue in Blackfoot, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Funeral services will be held on Monday from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. with a viewing an hour before.