Deputy Performance and Innovation director remembered

Photo By Cpl. Thomas Mudd | Valerie Kimball, daughter of Tina Miller, former deputy, Combat Center Performance and Innovation Office, talks about the lessons she learned from her mother during a celebration of life held at Valley Community Chapel in Yucca Valley, Calif., in honor of Tina, April 29, 2017. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Thomas Mudd)  

MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, UNITED STATES

04.29.2017

Story by Cpl. Thomas Mudd 

Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center

YUCCA VALLEY, Calif. — On March 31, 2017 the Combat Center community lost Tina Miller, age 51, after a fight against cancer. Tina was the deputy director of the Performance and Innovation Office.
“Tina was a great wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend to all the people she came to know,” her husband, Mike Miller, said. “She was always doing everything she wanted and making the most of her life.”
Tina was born Oct. 19, 1965, in Orange, Calif., and lived in Yucca Valley, Calif., for 22 years. In 1984, she married Terry Kimball, a Marine, and they had two daughters, Valerie and Kristine. During their marriage, the family lived aboard many military bases throughout the country as well as a Marine Corps Base Okinawa, Japan.
In 1995, Tina moved back to Yucca Valley with her two children and began working aboard the Combat Center. During her time aboard the installation she worked as a management analyst as well as the deputy director of Performance and Innovation, formerly known as the Business Performance Office.
After moving to Yucca Valley, Tina raised her two daughters as a single mother, working and attending several night schools to attain her master’s degree.
In May 2006, she married Mike Miller. The family enjoyed several hobbies, including hiking, camping, traveling and working on home improvement projects. Tina also was known to race cars, ride motorcycles and sky-dive.
“There was always something that my mother could teach someone,” said Valerie Kimball. “She was outgoing and loved bringing other people with her on her adventures. Everyone who got to know her knew that she loved to talk and share her experiences with anyone she could.”
On April 29, 2017 a Celebration of life was held in memory of Tina. Throughout the service, her family and friends spoke about Tina and how she impacted the lives of those around her.
In addition to her husband and daughters, Tina is survived by her father, Charles McPherson, and his wife, Susie; her mother, Carole Tumbleson, and her husband, Jim; her brother, Patrick McPherson, and his wife, Tina, and their seven children.

• Date Taken: 04.29.2017
• Date Posted: 05.03.2017 19:59
• Story ID: 232468
• Location: MARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US