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Paul Andrew Miller was born in north central Wyoming on Sept. 30, 1988. He was adopted by John and Teresa Miller and embraced by the town of Cokeville, Wyoming, where they lived. When he was almost four, they moved to Powell where he spent his youth. He was a member of First United Methodist Church.
Paul graduated from Powell High School where he participated in tennis, basketball, soccer and track, earning seven varsity letters. Outside of high school he played baseball many years, and was on bowling, football and ice hockey teams. School came hard for Paul, but he had a natural ability for putting together anything. He attended Laramie County Community College for a year on a Hathaway Scholarship studying automotive collision/refinishing.
With only one year of training from a high school class, welding became Paul’s vocation. But his passion was working with vehicles. He was almost entirely self-taught and transformed all modes of transportation starting with his BMX bike. Nothing was left stock in his world. He was proud of all the unique touches he gave to his Camaro including adding a T-top, roll bars, painting it twice, and switching out the taillights from Camaro to Corvette. Many remember Stretch, his baby blue pickup limousine, which would turn heads wherever he drove it. Always looking forward to his next adventure, his latest dream was to open his own shop. He enjoyed meeting people on sand dunes with his side by side. He was also involved in drag racing and pit crew work for friends.
Paul was very industrious, often working six to seven days a week. His jobs in Powell were for the Billings Gazette, Marcris Farms, Park County Fairgrounds, and Body & Paint by Tait. Then he worked as a welder/fabricator in Wyoming, Ohio and California for TNT Customs, High Country Industrial, Orange Barrel Media, Loren Brugger Welding, and was currently contracting his own welding company, ironically named Slacker Welding, to Martin Marietta. He was a lead welder on an artistic billboard, the Sunset Spectacular, on Hollywood Boulevard completed in 2022.
At 35 years old, on Oct. 11, 2023, Paul died in Cheyenne, Wyoming in a tragic accident while working to improve his beloved welding truck.
Paul would give you the shirt off his back, or more accurately a part for your vehicle, and then spend hours helping you install it. Many followers throughout a wide area kept watch on the alterations he made on vehicles. From the beginning Paul did not conform to anyone’s set of rules. In the end, his non-conformist nature is what made him special. Everything he did had to be customized and modified according to his one-of-a-kind vision. His passing will leave a hole in many people’s lives.
Paul was preceded in death by grandparents Eldon Wood, Roy and Rosalie Miller. He is survived by his parents John and Teresa, his sister Allison Miller, a grandmother Frances Wood, aunts and uncles: Mark and Martha Miller, Karen and Jimmy Brown, Eldonna and Mike Coats, Brenda and Mark Frei, 12 cousins and a wide circle of friends.
Memorials may be sent to the NWC Foundation for NWC’s Welding Department, 231 W 6th St., Powell. Gifts can also be made online at nwcollegefoundation.org/give Select ‘Other’ for the designation and note Paul Miller in the comments section. A Celebration of Life will be held in Powell on Saturday, Oct 21 at 1 p.m. at Northwest College Nelson Auditorium with a reception to follow in the Yellowstone Building. Saturday, Oct. 28 in Cheyenne there will be a more casual Celebration of Life at 4 p.m. at the Frontier Park Event Center 1230 W. 8th Ave. Thompson Funeral Home and Schrader, Aragon & Jacoby Funeral Home are assisting the family.
