Fremont farmer and businessman Don Miller left a loving family and admiring community when he died Aug. 18.

A lifelong farmer and the entrepreneur behind the Miller Pipeline Corporation and the Miller Cable Company was 95. He was remembered as an unassuming man of diligence, with a great sense of humor.

"He was good at telling jokes," said Laurie Sistrunk, his second of four daughters. She said his perfect delivery stood the test of time. "They're still funny."

A mischievous child, Miller grew up on a Green Springs potato farm with his nine siblings, learning a strict work ethic and a down-to-earth manner. Enlisting in the U.S. Navy right after graduation in 1945, his brief service ended with Japan's surrender. Miller always joked that he was responsible for the end of World War II, the Japanese having surrendered after hearing of his enlistment.

After his service, Miller entered the Ohio State University, but soon left, realizing that he was not suited to college. Instead, he worked a number of jobs, particularly enjoying operating a bulldozer for a pipeline construction company. That led him to entering a partnership in 1953, the Miller and Crum Company, which he bought out entirely a year later, forming Don W. Miller, Inc. Miller's new company focused on bringing natural gas to Ohio communities, and included his brothers, Dale, Karl and Paul. Eventually the company became Miller Pipeline, a national leader in natural gas infrastructure, headquartered in Indianapolis.

In the 1970s Miller founded Miller Cable Company, which specializes in highway lighting systems and electronic highway messaging systems. Miller Cable operates out of the original Green Springs headquarters of Miller Pipeline.

Miller met his first wife, Harriet (Hoffman) Stone at Fremont's Rainbow ballroom and had four daughters with her, Sistrunk, Debbie King, Barbara D'Angelo and Donna Drake. In 1985, he married Carolyn (Gamble) Winton, bringing him stepchildren Lisa Roper and Mike and Joe Sheffler. Don had 15 grandchildren and step-grandchildren. Miller also loved his dog, Joe, who was his constant companion

In 1979, he and Carolyn bought historic Peninsular Farms, where they spent the entire 37 years of their marriage.

Miller loved his farm and often opened it up to family weddings, parties, reunions, hayrides (for which he drove the tractor until five years ago,) and numerous community events. There, he will be buried next to Carolyn, in a private, upcoming ceremony. On Saturday, at 4 p.m., a meal, toast and celebration of life will be held at Peninsular Farms, 2716 Whittaker Drive. Family and friends are encouraged to join and pay tribute to the man and have a drink or a beer.

Sistrunk said her father loved Bud Light and having a cold one would be a fitting remembrance.

"He was a beer-drinking kind of guy."

Sistrunk said her father also loved flying Piper airplanes and riding Indian motorcycles, owning several of each during his life. Miller even flew his Piper J-3 Cub on his 90th birthday and frequently flew his Piper Aztec and Comanche between home and Indianapolis and on family vacations. In 2017, he received the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award from the Federal Aviation Administration.

Passionate about motorcycles and having ridden an Indian as a teenager, Miller continued to ride and collect the brand's motorcycles and became a member of the Indian Four-Cylinder Motorcycle Club. He hosted many of the organization's annual picnics at the farm.

Miller also loved boats, antiques and snowmobiles, Sistrunk noted.

"When Dad started to have his own money, he wanted toys," she said.

A great believer in conservation and the environment, Miller entered Peninsular Farms into a permanent conservation easement with the Black Swamp Conservancy, so that the farm will remain tilled and undeveloped in perpetuity. Miller also fought off a FirstEnergy effort to place large electrical transmission lines across the farm, a fight that ended with the power utility placing the lines along the Ohio Turnpike.

On one occasion, gathering his family atop a resort in Colorado, his daughter recalled, Miller looked over the beauty of nature and said, "This is why I called this meeting."

A bold, but understated man, Miller contributed generously to his community and loved his employees, preferring to give quietly and dress casually, Sistrunk said. She said he would rather engage in adventures — like riding with local friend Luther Gibbs as Gibbs landed an airplane on the Sandusky River ice — and to engage people directly and sincerely.

"He would laugh until he cried sometimes," Miller's daughter said.

"Dad really was a badass," she said. "He really attracted people.

"People liked DW. He was a great guy."