Jennifer "Jen" Mae Miller

Jennifer Miller of Ham Lake passed away on Saturday, October 31, 2026 at her home at the age of 52.

Jennifer Mae Brown was born May 11, 1974 to Harold "Mike" and Constance (Eatherton) Brown in Denver, Colorado. Connie described Mike as overprotective and in love with baby Jen and Connie grins in every photo of her and her little girl. Jen spent most of her childhood between the suburbs of Denver and a little farm in Isle, Minnesota that surely inspired her lifelong love of Little House on the Prairie. She explored the birch tree forests and Great Lakes of the north and the Rocky Mountains of the West, adored spending time with Grandma Jean and Grandpa Joe, cousins, aunts and uncles at Green Mountain Reservoir and Uncle Terry and cousins in northern Minnesota. When Jen was 13, her family moved to Mora, Minnesota which became Home – bringing Jen Emmanuel Baptist Church, an understanding of the value of true community and most importantly, the space where she began to deeply know Jesus. Jen was a talented young artist, starred in school plays and musicals, gave her beautiful voice to the school choir, played on the volleyball team and kept her parents and siblings on their toes with hijinks and a wicked sense of humor.

Jen moved down to Northwestern College in Roseville, where she majored in early childhood education and more importantly, she would say, was introduced to the love of her life, Chad Regan Miller, through their dear mutual friend. We all knew Jen had met her match when Chad proposed marriage with a pound of bacon – Jen’s love language – in one hand and an elegant ring in the other. In 2000, Jen and Chad were married surrounded by friends and family, singing karaoke into the night. Over the next few years, Chad and Jen grew more deeply involved in their church and volunteered on two service trips to Mongolia to help support churches and faith communities in remote areas.

In 2002, Jen’s greatest and proudest adventure began: She became a mom! After learning she was pregnant with twins at a 20 week ultrasound, while Chad grew just slightly pale, Jen grinned. Her life’s calling was motherhood and the more, the sooner, the merrier, was her mantra. Sadie and Joren were not just her first babies – they grew to be her close friends, creative collaborators and partners in faith. From 2004 to 2010, Jen welcomed three more children – receiving each like a winning lottery ticket: Carter Regan, her first son and steadfast, wise, strong, noble and contemplative friend; Brooks Michael, her endlessly tender, protective, justice-hearted, silly and brave companion; and Teyah Cecelia, whom she described as the exclamation point on the family – spicy, creative, confident, sure-footed, funny and good hearted. In the midst of these years, Jen and Chad lost Baby Miller, a much wanted and loved child, during pregnancy. Jen followed the grief and questioning that flowed from this experience down a path closer to her Heavenly Father, beginning a new journey she prepared for as seriously and deeply as an arctic exploration: to hear what God was speaking into her life and to wrestle against human limitations, misbeliefs and wounds in order to follow his plans for her.

As Jen strove to live more intentionally and thoughtfully, she made hard choices that required so much more of her and she accepted them with gladness: choosing to homeschool her kids with creativity and delight, choosing to move down a path toward health and healing through natural resources, functional medicine, home cooked organic meals, choosing to not just accept the role of being a football coach’s wife but to relish it and see it as her own opportunity to lead and give. Jen attended all of Chad’s games coaching at the University of Northwestern and later Coon Rapids High School, cooked meals for hordes of ravenous young players, prayed for Chad’s boys and fellow coaches, and packed up five kids for countless road trips and away games.

Jen kept watch for the sparks of interest and talent in each of her children and hunched over them, protecting them from wind and fueling them with kindling. She promoted their talents – Sadie’s fiction writing and Joren’s art – fiercely, creating a mini artist commune in the basement and encouraging them forward. She spent hours each week reading with her kids – from the Bible and Tolkien to Bram Stoker and her beloved journals of Emma M. Lion. She brought history to life and marveled over the wild beauty of nature. She held back a flood of curse words while teaching her dreaded enemy, math. And when Carter, Brooks and Teyah choose to move to public school, she pushed through her own vision in order to support them – driving them, helping them manage change and cheering them on.

As a mom, Jen discovered a Facebook community of kindred spirits: The Grass Fed Girls. What began as a social media group of women who shared a love of Jesus and trading practical wisdom on health, parenting and nutrition grew into an army of women who would never again feel alone. Jen was a fierce and nurturing supporter throughout all of their advocacy work for family and health freedoms at the State Capitol. Together, they navigated life, treated their faith as something precious to nurture, prayed for and showed up for each other. Even as Jen lay in hospice care, the Grass Fed Girls gathered across the street with candles – singing, praying, sharing stories of her impact and holding her in their hearts.

Over the past few years, as Jen deepened her study of God’s word and identity, she spent hours each day in quiet contemplation, reading her Bible and writing. She quieted distractions, set down wounds, egolessly released caring about judgments others may have held – and tuned quietly into Jesus. She regularly shared powerful reflections on what He was teaching her in this season, serving as a sort of lay pastor and counselor to thousands of people. In 2024, she published “God With Us: Emotional Healing Through Connection With Jesus” exploring her own experience with Immanuel Prayer, a method of connecting with God that builds joy and capacity.

Jen adored quiet mornings with her Heavenly Father, absurd humor, debating superior Wyatt Earp films, watching and quoting tv shows with her family around her; road trips to the Badlands and Florida and to LA too many times in support of her sister’s family, searching for sea glass and perfect fall leaves, watching her kids play tennis, football, basketball and wrestle; reading her daughter’s writing, flipping through her daughter’s art; listening to her sons’ dreams for the future and seeing the ways they were becoming Good Men; watching her daughter fearlessly fly on the backs of horses; gathering best friends and family in her welcoming home; daily laughing, scheming and talking with her best friend Gretta; and most of all perhaps, the unshakeable friendship and love she had with Chad – with whom she felt wholly seen and known, deeply cherished, and safe.

While Jen grappled with health challenges in life, they did not define or limit her. She would have been ecstatic to know that this final affliction was fast – taking so little time and attention from her and her family. She would have been delighted to know that her kids, Chad and the friends and family around her spoke about her love for Jesus to each person who cared for her. In this darkest week, she lit new sparks of curiosity and revived hearts. She illustrated the power of a life’s purpose found in daily stitching her family close together and in trust in Jesus that has carried her home to restoration and leaves us with peace that passes understanding.

Jen is survived by her beloved husband Chad Miller of Ham Lake; amazing children Joren, Sadie, Carter, Brooks and Teyah Miller all of Ham Lake; loving father and mother Mike and Connie Brown of Missouri; siblings Erica (Chris) Cantoni of Rosemount, Branden Brown of Denver, Colorado; dearest friend Gretta; lovely in-laws and outlaws; dozens of close friends and family members and a community of thousands whose lives she touched.

She was preceded in death by her grandparents Joe and Jean Eatherton, Ken and June Brown; beloved Baby Miller; and father-in-law Gary Miller.

We each count ourselves as deeply lucky to have been a part of her life.

Psalm 69:16 “Hear me, O Lord; for your loving kindness is good: turn to me according to the multitude of your tender mercies.”

A Celebration of Life Service will be held: 11:00 AM; Thursday, November 5, 2026 at Eagle Brook Church of Ham Lake, with a time of visitation one hour prior to the service. A luncheon will immediately follow the service at the White and Sable Event Center of Ham Lake.

Donations to support her family can be made at https://www.gofundme.com/manage/surrounding-jen-and-chad-miller-with-love-and-support

Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the: Funeral and Cremation Service of Rush City ~ Olson Chapel

FuneralAndCremationService.com