Juanita Miller Deardorff

Juanita Miller Deardorff, our beloved wife, mother, grandmother, great grandmother, and friend peacefully passed away on Dec. 4, 2021 in her home in Plains, Montana. On Jan. 8, 1961, she was born in Junction City, Kansas to Bobbie and Rosemary Miller, little sister to Butch and Vicki.

Nita’s childhood was filled with family road trips across the country, horseback riding, stock car racing (and a little street racing!), and hanging out in Rompot with some of her lifelong childhood friends. While growing up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, she gained the title she was most proud of, Mother. Not long after the birth of her first son, Jesse, she found herself in Texas, giving birth to her second son, Jimmy. As her wonderful life continued, Nita loaded up her two young boys and journeyed to California after answering the call of the beach. In California she met the love of her life, and in 1986, Dallas and Nita were married in an intimate backyard ceremony surrounded by family and friends. Before long, and in a white van, her beautiful daughter Chelsea was born, and their growing family made their way to the place where Nita would eventually call home, Montana. In Montana, she embraced the country lifestyle and gave birth to her last son, Zak. With four children in tow, her adventurous life brought her family to a farm in Missouri, but she found her way back to Montana by way of Colorado and rooted herself and her family in Plains.

Some of Nita’s greatest joys in life were helping people in need, serving her community, and traveling. Her love of horses and rodeo inspired her to spend countless hours helping young kids learn to ride. Her and Dallas organized and produced two benefit ranch rodeos to raise money for friends in need. And that is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Nita’s compassion. She was always bringing people home that had found themselves stranded after a car broke down. She treated everyone as if they were her own family.

She began her 21-year-long career with the postal service as a rural carrier in Heron, Montana and went on to become the Postmaster of the Plains, Montana Post Office where she served the community well with her many talents. She was extremely organized and detailed. She spent numerous years volunteering for the Plains Swim Team, served as a member of the American Legion Auxiliary Post 129, served as the secretary/treasurer of the Sanders County Pilots Association, and helped organize countless community events.

She always wanted to get the most out of life and never liked to take a day off. And she was just as serious about fun as she was about work. “Work hard, play hard,” is what she lived by. She was a professional parade organizer and got such joy out of entering her (and others’!) children in parades, always putting her all into the costumes and decorations.

The world can be a dark place, but Nita always had a way of adding spark to a dim situation. She loved her family above all, and she made sure to lend a helping hand whenever needed. Her enthusiasm for life, compassion for others, caring nature towards everything, quick wit without fail, sense of humor, her backflips, that laugh, her honesty, acceptance, knowledge, and her love will all be tremendously missed. She touched the lives of so many people, served in so many roles, and being among her family and friends was what she loved the most.

Nita is preceded in death my her parents, Bobbie and Rosemary Miller, as well as her brother, Butch Miller. She is survived by her husband, Dallas; children, Jesse (Misty), Jimmy, Chelsea, and Zak (Barb); grandchildren, Mason, Chayce, Kahli (Marco), and Arianna; great-grandchildren, Ezra and Nani; sister, Vicki (Randy); along with numerous others close to her heart.

Please bring your family and join us for a celebration of life on Sunday, December 26, 2021 from 2-4pm at Quinn’s Paradise Hall Event Center (river side of the highway).