Alice Joanne (Konu) Miller passed away on Tuesday, October 6, 2026 at Essentia Health Duluth following a sudden and severe stroke the weekend prior. 

Our mom, grandmother, and great grandmother was born on Sunday, September 1, 1935, the only daughter and eventually the middle child of Ted & Ina (Haikola) Konu in Moose Lake, Minnesota during the lean years after the 1918 Fire and in the midst of the Great Depression. 

Her life was that of a true Finn; marked by family, faith and that undeniable and unmistakable trait of the Finns - SISU. 

Her early years were spent on the family farm located at the junction of Hwys 27 and 73 in Silver Township where she spent countless hours helping on the family farm and with her Korhonen and Leino cousins. 

She attended Moose Lake High School and was part of the graduating class of 1953. 

After high school, she joined the United States Army where she was a member of Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) through whom she was trained in the medical fields and would serve at Fort Lee (Virginia), Fort Bliss (Texas) and in Heidelberg (West) Germany at the US Army Hospital where she tended to the injured and newly born. 

After her time in the Army, she returned home and married Duane Sarvela to whom five children would be born. Following their divorce, she met and married Robert Miller and together, they had another child. 

She spent her adult years raising her children in Kettle River, Denham and eventually in Willow River while working in healthcare; first at Mercy Hospital followed by the State of Minnesota before retiring in 1999. After her retirement, she took a job at the Little Store in Moose Lake where she continued making friends and keeping busy. 

In 2004, she moved from Willow River and into an apartment in Moose Lake where she remained for the next twenty years with old and new friends.

 In 2024, as age and time took over, she moved into Villa Vista Assisted Living in Cromwell where she remained until her passing. While there, she was active with family, friends and the other residents and staff who quickly became her friends as well. 

As her age and health became increasingly frail, like the stoic Lutheran Finn she was to her core, she never complained, never cried and remained steadfast in her faith. 

She was a member of the American Legion and a past member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church of Kettle River and a current member of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Moose Lake where she was active in the women’s groups, playing the organ and raising her children in the Lutheran faith, never through fear or intimidation but through encouragement, love and support. She was a woman of her generation, one of a quiet, yet steadfast faith, that lived her life by Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.” 

Throughout her life, she enjoyed spending time with family and friends, attending her childrens’ and grandchildrens’ various activities. She was a wonderful cook, enjoyed playing cribbage, knitting, loved to read, was always up for a road trip and going to movies and other activities with friends and family. 

She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers Ken (Marie) Konu and Jerry Konu, her nephew Scott Konu, her grandson Adam Buchholz, and her step daughter Robin Dahl. 

She is survived and remembered by her children; DuAnne Sarvela (Danny Reed) of Automba, Mn, Shawn (Marlyn) Sarvela of Atoka, Tn, Rory (Cissy) Sarvela of Sturgeon Lake, Mn, Britt Sarvela of Moose Lake, Mn, Andrea Sarvela (Ron Lemke) of Hinckley, Mn and Robert Miller of Superior, WI and her step daughter Jessica Miller of New Leipzig, ND along with numerous grandchildren, great grandchildren and her former daughter in law; Sarah Miller of Duluth, Mn.

 A gathering of friends and family will be held at Villa Vista & Cardinal Courts in Cromwell, MN on Saturday, October 17, 2026 starting at 130 pm with a later inurnment following at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church Cemetery in Silver Twp. with Military Honors being provided by the Moose Lake American Legion Post 360.