Since its inception, the Gail and Delores Miller Foundation held with South Dakota Community Foundation has distributed over $2.8 million to statewide nonprofits in the Pierre, Fort Pierre, Lyman and Jones County areas. It’s the single largest estate gift in SDCF history and provides a stream of grant dollars that will benefit nonprofits and communities forever.
Nonprofit Grantees:
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Black Hills Special Services Cooperative
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Black Hills Works, Inc.
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Children’s Home Society of South Dakota
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City of Pierre- pickleball courts
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First Congregational UCC
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Lutheran Memorial Church
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McCrossan Boys Ranch
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Missouri Shores Domestic Violence Center
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Oahe YMCA
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Trail of Governors Foundation Fund
Local Community Foundation Grant Recipients
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First Fidelity Bank Jones County Community Foundation
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Pierre/Fort Pierre Area Community Foundation
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Greater Lyman Foundation
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Gail & Delores Miller Vision 35 Community Development Fund
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Community Savings Account challenge dollars
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Harding County Community Foundation-challenge match
Build Dakota Scholarship:
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Lake Area Technical College
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Mitchell Technical College
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Southeast Technical College
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Western Dakota Technical College
For the Wall native Gail Miller, hard work was second only to putting together a great deal. He spent his life and career proving that a high school dropout confined to a wheelchair at the age of 16 could achieve great personal and professional success. Now, because of those efforts, his legacy will impact the lives of South Dakotans for generations to come.
Delores’s passing in 2013 brought great sadness and reflection for Gail. He contemplated how to best honor her memory and plan for the eventual disposition of all the two had built together.
Having no children and being fiercely opposed to paying unnecessary taxes, Gail worked with his professional advisors to establish a fund at SDCF. Gail appointed a five-member advisory board to work with SDCF to administer distributions to several designated charitable beneficiaries. Gail developed parameters for more flexible grant programs that will support initiatives that were important to both Delores and him. He also established a scholarship to honor his mother and father, Violet and Eugene Miller.
Formally trained as a jeweler and watchmaker, Gail’s career started in Murdo when he went to work at Beckwith Jewelry. Soon thereafter, he opened his own store in Presho where he would meet and marry his life-long companion Delores, a teacher at a nearby country school. The couple moved to Pierre in 1965 after purchasing the Jewel Box.
The two ran the jewelry store for over 20 years and saw the world together, often piloted by Gail, in their small plane. After selling the Jewel Box, they started investing in real estate, both in South Dakota and in Bullhead, AZ, where they spent their winters. In addition to owning several commercial and residential properties, Gail followed his passion by purchasing and leasing farm and ranch land. Gail remained active in farming and ranching until his passing in 2018.
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