The family of a dairy founder who set up one of Bucks’ biggest annual events have paid tribute to his ‘jovial spirit’.
Ron Miller set up the dairy in his own name in 1962 and ran it until 1999, when he retired.
He was also one of the founding members of the Game Club, which organises the annual Chiltern Hills Vintage Vehicle Rally.
The 77-year-old farmer had several business interests and was known for being a flag enthusiast, raising a flag outside his Aston Clinton home every day for the past 27 years to mark an international event.
His daughter Jill said: “Up until the end he was always laughing and joking and that’s how we have known him.”
Mr Miller’s father, Harold, played 365 times for Chelsea but he never seemed likely to follow in his footsteps.
He was born in Watford and his interest in the dairy industry started from a young age, doing a milk round before school aged 13. Jill said: “When he was late for school he would leave the cart at the gates.”
He also loved vintage vehicles, collecting a vast array including lorries, tractors and an electric milk pram.
Daughter Marie said: “He would do funny things with them, like one time he picked us up from school in a tractor.”
This passion led to him helping establish the Game Club, named so because its founding members used to meet at The Partridge pub in Aston Clinton. They wanted to raise money for charity and it grew into the rally, which has now been going for 20 years.
Club chairman David Heasman said: “He was always generous and prepared to do more than his fair share of jobs.”
Among his other talents Mr Miller was a politics and history buff, particularly on Winston Churchill. Neil Pritchard, his son-in-law, said: “You would have to go very far to find someone who knew more about history than Ron.”
Mr Miller married his wife Ann in 1978 and had one daughter, Julie, from a previous marriage. He also has two grandchildren. He died on April 3 following a battle with cancer. The funeral is at Amersham Crematorium on April 23, followed by a wake at the Holiday Inn in Aston Clinton.
