Lesley Miller died unexpectedly on Valentine’s Day, two-and-a-half years after her husband Dougald Miller passed away.
Their names are familiar to many Edmontonians. Dougald was viciously beaten by a dangerous offender in 2000 and left in a vegetative state. For years, Lesley cared for him.
The pair’s story is one of strength and of love, even in the darkest of times.
READ MORE: ‘If you want to go, you can go, it’s OK’: Wife of Dougald Miller recounts their love story
In 1981, Lesley, then 35 years old, was going through a divorce and Dougald, then 42 years old, had returned from Canada to Scotland to visit friends and family. They met, fell in love and married in Westlock a year-and-a-half later.
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“He made me laugh, you know, and I was a sad wreck when he met me. He changed my life completely,” Lesley told Global News in 2016.
Their happy life was shattered in 2000 when Dougald was savagely beaten by notorious dangerous offender Leo Teskey.
READ MORE: Teskey declared a dangerous offender
The attack left Dougald with life-altering injuries – his skull was crushed, his jaw was broken and part of his ear was torn off.
Dougald was admitted to hospital suffering complications from pneumonia and internal bleeding in September 2016.
Lesley read him poems and talked to him in the hours before he passed away.
READ MORE: Dougald Miller, Edmonton landlord brutally attacked in 2000, dies in hospital
“I said, ‘Dougald, you look really tired. If you want to go, you can go, it’s OK.’
“He suffered so much. I was selfish and I wanted him there,” Lesley shared. “I’m OK…then it dawns on me he’s away.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do without him.”
Lesley died on Feb. 14, 2019 at the age of 73, the obituary says. She leaves behind son Andrew.
A funeral service is scheduled for Feb. 22 at Park Memorial Chapel.
“In lieu of other tributes, memorial donations may be made directly to the Alberta SPCA,” the obituary reads.
— With files from Julia Wong, Global News
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