Ray Miller – Sacred Heart

Ray Miller, son of Earl and Gladys Miller, was born in Huron, South Dakota, in June of 1940. Ray and older sister Mary Lea lived with their parents in Carpenter, South Dakota and moved to a farm just outside of Carpenter when Ray was six years old. Earl was a farmer and Gladys worked at the bank in Carpenter. Ray attended Willow Lake High School, where he played 6-man Football until his Junior Year. Willow Lake played 8-man Football during Miller’s final two years. Miller also competed at a high level in Track and Baseball and had a tryout with the Chicago White Sox who eventually cut him as they weren’t sure if they would be able to use a left-handed catcher.

Ray will always be grateful to his dad and his Uncle Will, who modeled the work ethic and outlook on life that he adopted throughout his career.

After graduating from Willow Lake in 1958, Miller attended Huron College, playing Football at 142 pounds and graduating with a Physical Education Degree in 1963. Ray was one of only three players in the State of South Dakota to play 6-man, 8-man, 9-man, and 11-man Football.

Miller was hired to teach Physical Education and serve as Head Football Coach at Roslyn, South Dakota, the following year. Ray took over a 9-man Football program that had not won a game in three years, and after Roslyn won their first three Football games under Ray’s guidance, the Roslyn School Board offered Ray the Head Wrestling Position for their inaugural season. Ray was young, ambitious, and totally oblivious to the techniques of Wrestling, so he accepted the challenge. The very first wrestling match that he witnessed was from the coach’s chair. Ray was learning the sport along with his wrestlers and opened the Rummy Macias book of wrestling technique right at practice and started at page one. It was tough sledding at first, but his wrestlers hung in there and started showing improvement match by match and season by season. During his time at Roslyn, Ray earned his Master’s Degree in Physical Education at South Dakota State University.

After five years at Roslyn, Ray was offered a teaching and Head Wrestling position at Sacred Heart High School in the infamous 212 Conference. Ray took the position and never looked back—taking another fledgling program and starting the process of building a wrestling team.

Sacred Heart was one of the smallest schools in the 212 Conference but held its own year after year. Ray never dodged any opponent, including the likes of Canby, Olivia, and a number of other strong programs in the area. Miller guided the program through a number of configurations, starting with the Sacred Heart Vikings, RSH (Renville-Sacred Heart) Raiders, BDRSH (Belview­ Danube-Renville-Sacred Heart) Jaguars, CDGRS (Clarkfield-Danube-Granite Falls-Renville-Sacred Heart) Wrestling Team, and finally ending his coaching career at Renville County West. Ray displayed the collaborative attitude necessary to bring communities together, and his wrestlers followed suit. Instead of “Respect Every Opponent – Fear None,” it was more like “Respect Every Opponent – because next year they may be your teammate!”

Ray Miller was the right man for the job. He enjoyed competition and fully understood the concepts of collaboration and comradery. Miller was selected as District 12, Region 3, and 212 Conference Coach of the Year numerous times throughout his career. When Ray retired in 1999, he turned the reins of a solid team over to Scott Fransen, who guided them to a 21-3 dual meet season record that first season.

Ray coached his charges to six individual state titles, four of those coming from his son, John, who lost one match in his last four years of wrestling and was the Mr. Minnesota MWCA Wrestler of the Year as a Senior. Ray and John were the first and only father-son combination to be inducted into the Dave Bartelma Wrestling Hall of Fame in the same year.

John’s older brother Rob, also tough as nails, garnered back-to-back third-place finishes at the State Wrestling Tournament and went on to be an alternate on the 1980 Olympic Freestyle Team. Ray felt his sons had a lot to do with changing the trajectory of the Sacred Heart Wrestling program and they will both tell you that it was a true pleasure wrestling for their dad.

Ray often thinks back to the early days at Roslyn and how the decision to coach Wrestling transformed his life. He remembers fondly all the boys who came into his program and left as men, becoming hardworking and productive citizens from Roslyn to Sacred Heart and beyond. He counts his former wrestlers as some of his closest friends. He also sometimes wonders how he was able to work full time as a teacher, coach three sports, and farm 480 acres all those years. With three children. But he knows It would never have happened without the hard work and continual support of his wife, Barb, whom he met in her hometown of Clark, South Dakota, at the Clark Dance Hall in 1961. They were married in 1962, headed out for Roslyn, and the rest is history.

In addition to sons Rob and John, Ray and Barb have a daughter, Leslie, who was a wrestling cheerleader and a tremendous support system for her brothers and her dad.

Daughter Leslie is married to Darrel Refsland, who wrestled for Ray and then coached with Ray for 33 years. Darrel continues to help with the wrestling program and especially enjoys coaching his grandson, Sawyer, alongside his son, Teddy, and Great-Grandpa Ray. Darrel and Leslie live in Sacred Heart and teach in Granite Falls. Darrel is an Agriculture Instructor and serves as FFA Advisor, and Leslie works as an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher. Son Rob is retired and enjoys spending winters in Arkansas and traveling around the country.

John and Tara are longtime residents of Sacred Heart, where John works as a custom applicator for Farmward and loves going out to Carpenter, South Dakota, where he built a hunting shack out of an old wash-house. Tara works as Director of Human Resources / Payroll at Yellow Medicine East and serves on a number of committees and boards in the community. Tara, who is a calm, kind, and organized planner for the entire Miller family, embraces her role as “grandma” and is happiest when spending time with her three granddaughters.

Barb is a renowned seamstress who sewed all of Leslie’s clothes and for many people in the community. She sewed a number of leisure suits for Ray over the years which he wore proudly at wrestling meets. The leisure suits covered every color of the rainbow causing fellow coaches to coin him “Rainbow Ray.”

Ray continues to keep busy with endless interests and activities. He has been an active member of his church serving on the Church Council as well as a Luther League Advisor.

Ray has been a loyal member of the Lions Club since he came to Sacred Heart. He has also served as a first responder for many years and loves to participate in Community Projects. You will see him flipping his famous “Rayburgers” at the Lions Tent during the Sacred Heart Summerfest Celebration, making caramels for the locals, and lending a helping hand to members of the community whenever and wherever he is needed. Ray and Barb have been blessed with six grandchildren and five great-grandchildren, all still in the Sacred Heart area.