Delmer Maurice Miller was born May 13, 1914 in Numa, Iowa to Stanley & Evelyn (Stanton) Miller,a name known far and wide, especially in the aviation and ag-aviation circles. Delmer Millers name is as familiar as the winds are to the Panhandle area.He has had many colorful experiences over the last 50 plus, years, which have lead to the operation he owns today, Miller Air Field and many vintage autos. When he was nine years old, in 1923, Delmer built his first cockpit. In his words he had hours of time in my own cockpit built in a wooden box big enough to get in with the stick stuck to the floor and instruments of tin can lids all calibrated and numbered on the wall.At age 11 Delmer took his first real airplane ride in a Hisso Standard with a barnstorming pilot at a county fair in South Dakota. At 14 he had his first experience with bureaucracy when the Department of Commerce condemned a glider he and other students in high school in Casper, WY built. Delmer worked after school cleaning hangers and airplanes to earn enough money for a 15 minute ride in the then new Kinner Travelair.Three years later, in 1932 he graduated from Clayton High School. After graduation he made his first solo flight in an OX-5 American Eagle and was excited when he was later able to buy a 1/3 interest in another OX-5 American Eagle.Delmer was able to get only three hours time in it before a storm destroyed the plane only three days after purchase.In 1937 Delmer purchased a new Piper J-3 for a delivered price of $1,498.00 and he began barnstorming and instructing. A brand new plane deserved a brand new car. He bought a 1937 Plymouth for $633.00.Love springs eternal and on March 27, 1937 he married Shirley Davis. They remained in Clayton for four years and then moved to Dallas, in 1941 they moved to Brady. Over the years they had four children.Uncle Sam called and between 1940-1945 he trained in the U.S. Air Corps Cadet which rated him as the Wing Commander and Director of Flying. In September 1945 he was discharged and one month later he founded Plains Aero Service in Amarillo.A year later he started a G. I. flying school, held private, commercial and instrument examiners ratings and ran a Cessna and Luscombe dealership on the side.It would be hard not to find an ag pilot who has not been directly or indirectly influenced by Delmer Miller because of his flying school and ag-operations. Delmer really got his big burst into ag-aviation when county agent Art Bradley convinced him weeds in rice and milo, could be killed by spraying the fields with 2-4D. The result was the purchase of a 35 HP J-3 Piper with a 35- gallon tank for $2,550. If not the first, this was one of the earliest commercial applications of 2-4D by air. This was the beginning of a legacy. Delmers operation moved to Dalhart in 1956. In 1968 the military was disposing of the old wartime facilities and Delmer grabbed at and got the old Dalhart East Air Base complete with a 6500 foot concrete runway, hangers and other buildings. It is now known and has for many years been Miller Field. Delmer has flown 67 different planes over a 50 year span. In May 1964 he established a new business Delmer Miller Fertilizer. The main office was in Chamberlain, but the business was connected with Millers Plains Aero service. He was also involved with U.S.D.A., A.R.S. and the Forest Service contracts throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. His biggest contract was in Colorado for 1,457,000 acres of spraying grasshoppers. Delmer began a hobby in 1928, his second love, Model T Fords. He built his first Model T in 1928. His Model T was more favorably accepted than his glider. Two years later, 1930 he built a T-Truck. He built his first Model T automobile as a youth and drove it on his route selling railroad ties as kindling wood. He made enough money to buy a 1925 coupe, which he drove to school. This is the one he drove to the Chicago Worlds fair in 1932. Delmer also has a 1923 Model T Ford Dirt Track Racer whose specifications were designed by Arthur Chevrolet in 1923. This particular model ran in 1923 Indy 500 and was clocked at a blistering 82 MPH. After 50 years of Flying he went back to building Model T Fords. He finds these cars while flying around and then goes back to deal with their owners where he finds nine out of ten times their just happy to have them hauled off. As a result he has several Model Ts running and a Model A Ford Coupe. He retired from flying as a pilot in 1991 and has devoted his full time to rebuilding these vintage cars. In the Sunday, June 12, 1983 Dalhart Texan a large headline read; Yes- Virginia, there Really Is a Dalhart & Delmer Miller Is Helping Put It On The Map. In 1994 Texan article Miller said This is Dalharts Little Ford Factory. I find the shells. I build the motors. I just putem together. Delmer rebuilt all components including wheels with wooden spokes and said engines are easy, the body construction is toughest. Delmers love of old cars has given him the opportunity to allow the Cruzers Car Club to use his facilities at Miller Field for drag races for the past several years. In 1994 the Parade Marshal J. Eddie Jones waved to spectators as he perched in a 1923 Ford Model T depot hack, a vintage model that is the prototype for todays urban limousine. Miller was driving the hack, one of the many cars he had in the parade. In addition to his planes and antique cars he is also a gun and antique gun enthusiast. Several years ago he lost many of his guns in a fire. Miller for several years sprayed the Rita Blanca Lake Park area on Barbeque Saturday of XIT for the unwanted visitors (insects). He was XIT parade Marshall for 2003 parade.Survivors: Wife: Shirley Miller Daughter: Melinda & Rusty Olson of Germantown, TN their children -Granddaughters: Megan Olson of Pass Christian, MS & Kirstin Olson of Dallas, TX. Grandsons: Chad Olson & Cody Olson of Germantown, TN. Delmer follows his recently deceased son: Maurice Delmer Miller his wife: Lee Miller of Ardmore, OK and their children: Granddaughters: Shelly McClenny of Plano, TX Tiffany Guenther of Tucson, AZ & Brook Parker of Guthrie, OK Grandson: John Miller of Ardmore, OK & 7 Great-Grandchildren Brother: Roy D. Miller of Gardendale, TX and many other family & friends. Preceded in death by: his parents-Stanley & Evelyn Miller, Daughter: Sally Elizabeth Miller & 2 Sons: Stanley Wayne Miller, & Maurice Delmer MillerMemorials: Dalhart Senior Citizens Center