Photos: Tucson builder John Wesley Miller
Tucson developer and green-building pioneer John Wesley Miller through the years. Miller died at age 88.
Born in Webb City, Missouri, Miller came to Tucson with his family at age 14, graduated from Tucson High School in 1951 and attended the University of Arizona. He remained a lifelong booster of the Tucson High Badgers and the Arizona Wildcats.
Miller began working as a builder and real estate developer with his father, Wesley Helm Miller, and built his first home in 1953. – David Wichner
John Wesley Miller
John Wesley Miller talks about the construction of his newest home located at 413 South Third Avenue in the Armory Park del Sol community in 2017. Miller has been building with solar since the 1970's and says this home will generate more electricity than it consumes. The home has all the latest energy-saving appliances and was constructed with some recycled building materials. The home was built in conjunction with Green Builder Magazine.
John Wesley Miller
Newspaper articles and ads about John Wesley Miller.
John Wesley Miller
Newspaper articles and ads about John Wesley Miller.
John Wesley Miller
John Wesley Miller and Senator Barry Goldwater, 1986.
John Wesley Miller
Interior of Biosphere II near the end of construction, in September, 1990.
John Wesley Miller
Biosphere II complex under construction in Sept., 1990 near Oracle, Ariz. (north of Tucson).
John Wesley Miller
Jane Poynter, foreground, followed by Taber McCallum, walk to an event introducing the first Biosphere II crew to the public on Sept. 12, 1990, north of Tucson, Ariz.
John Wesley Miller
Shown in 1998, father-daughter team John Wesley Miller and Katherine Kent recently opened the Solar Store, a retail outlet for solar devices. Surrounding them is solar-heated thermal piping used to heat pool water.
John Wesley Miller
Shown in 2002, John Wesley Miller, developer of Armory Park del Sol, holds a drawing of the experimental house that will be built on the lot he is standing on, designed to use solar power and other energy saving features to use zero (or almost zero) traditional energy.
John Wesley Miller
Newspaper articles and ads about John Wesley Miller.
John Wesley Miller
Homes in the Armory Park del Sol subdivision in 2013.
John Wesley Miller
Homebuilder John Wesley Miller gives Gov. Janet Napolitano a tour of his second "net zero energy" home during its unveiling at Armory Park del Sol near Downtown in 2007. Napolitano presented Miller and his companies with an Arizona Innovation Award for his work in building zero-energy homes, which depend on solar power.
John Wesley Miller
Newspaper articles and ads about John Wesley Miller.
John Wesley Miller
Solar panels on homes in the Armory Park Del Sol development in 2007.
John Wesley Miller
John Wesley Miller on a bench at the park in Armory Park Del Sol housing development in 2006. There are more than 90 solar energy homes that reflect the downtown historic architecture. The development is the culmination of decades of work and planning by Miller. “I grew up just a few miles away, and I still know people who grew up in Armory Park.”
John Wesley Miller
Builder John Wesley Miller, left, talks about his plans for the site with Mayor Bob Walkup during a press conference in 2005 at the old McLellan's building Downtown. Miller's vision include a retail and office building that would be part of Downtown's renaissance.
John Wesley Miller
John Wesley Miller at a rainwater harvesting barrel in Armory Park del Sol in 2008.
John Wesley Miller
Builder John Wesley Miller kisses 14 year-old Lizzie Bell as the rest of her family looks before they were to leave on a week-long vacation to New York City. The family's home (in background) was demolished by the ABC show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," and was rebuilt in a week. Lizzie suffers from a disease in which she needs a blood transfusion every two to three weeks.
John Wesley Miller
John Wesley Miller and Gabriel Giffords ca. 2008.
John Wesley Miller
Newspaper articles and ads about John Wesley Miller.
John Wesley Miller
John Wesley Miller, second from right, talks with Jerry Thayer, 84, as they wait for their food during a weekly meet up Kappy's Bar & Sandwich Place with fellow 1951 Tucson High School graduates on January 25, 2018. The friends have been getting together for over 20 years.
Rick Wiley
Photo editor
Longtime Tucson developer John Wesley Miller left behind a legacy of innovation in sustainable home building and community service.