Stanley Ray Miller Obituary

October 25, 1940 - January 8, 2026

Stanley Ray Miller, 85, passed away at his home on January 8, 2026, in Junction City, Oregon.

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, October 25, 1940, to Maurice and Blanche Miller, he spent his childhood in the farming community of Holdrege, Nebraska. Fascinated from earliest days with mechanics and building, he told a story of being locked out of the garage for a while because he would leave his dad’s tools all over. He was a Boy Scout for several years, played the trombone in the Holdrege High School Band, and was involved in HHS’s extensive theater program. Developing a strong work ethic at an early age, he started his career in music and sound with building amplifiers and a job at KUVR, the local radio station. He sold and wrote commercials, gave the local news, and even started a small business of providing music for area sock hops. His Plymouth, gaudy with school colors of purple and metallic gold flames, was a well-known sight around the community. After graduation in 1959, he moved to Sun Valley, Idaho, working at the resort/hotel and learning to ski. As a side business, he began designing and repairing the newest stereo systems for local residents.

In 1961 he returned to Kearney, Nebraska, graduating from Kearney State College in 1965. While there he met and later married Linda Taylor, provided sound for the college’s theater productions, and continued to work with the developing concert tour world. Stan provided speakers and amplifiers in gyms and small theaters to musical groups who often traveled with no sound systems. Meanwhile he also started Stanal Recordings, recording and making records for area bands and choral groups. The business eventually became Stanal Sound, Ltd., a local store in Kearney that also provided traveling sound systems all over the Midwest. In 1968, while working in South Dakota, he met a talented young performer, singer/songwriter Neil Diamond, and thus began a 50 year friendship and professional relationship. During his lifetime, he traveled over the world, providing the audio systems and sound production for Diamond’s every concert.

Both Stan’s family and business grew. In 1967 he and his wife Linda had a daughter, Cordie, and in 1971 a son, Neil. Stanal Sound prospered throughout the 1970s and 1980s. He and his father designed and then manufactured the fiberglass traveling cases for speakers still used today. Stanal provided sound for numerous artists’ tours, including The Smothers Brothers, Johnny Cash, Simon and Garfunkel, John Denver, Dolly Parton, and Sonny and Cher. At one point he had over 100 employees for his business of providing quality sound. However, the business outgrew central Nebraska and migrated to Los Angeles. By 1981 he was the sound engineer for the Greek Theater and Universal Amphitheater, designing innovative systems for Diamond’s Hot August Night concert, Pink Floyd’s The Wall – Live concert, the opening and closing 1984 Olympic Ceremonies, and Pope John Paul’s 1987 appearance in Los Angeles.

His technical and problem solving prowess, his curiosity, and his willingness to risk through innovation led him during these years to notable audio designs: the Stanley Screamers for Altec, the shift from analog to digital control, and a system to hang speakers for the first time over the stage. Stan helped create the first integrated digital consoles PMD1 and PMD5 with Yamaha, designed the JBL Concert series, and pioneered remote control of digital systems and amplifiers. In 2009 he was recognized with the prestigious Parnelli Innovator Award for Career Achievement from the live event industry. A classical music buff, he always maintained that first one listens to what are the actual sounds, and only through necessity, create what is needed to “tweak” that sound for the best performer and listener experience. When asked about his accomplishments, Stan would insist

modestly that they were simply an extension of his passion for any kind of machines and new ways to do things.

Throughout his career in sound, he continuously mentored and inspired many who went on to successful careers of their own in audio, and he always maintained that the many talented individuals he worked with on all those tours for decades were his “additional family.”

Outside the audio world, Stan’s boundless enthusiasm and energy led him to purchase, renovate, and operate with a partner the Knickerbocker Mansion Bed and Breakfast for 17 years in Big Bear Lake, California. Stan still found time to volunteer with the Southern California Mountains Foundation, a connection he maintained until his death. After retiring from touring with Neil Diamond in 2017 and eventually selling the Knickerbocker, Stan moved to Roseburg, Oregon, where he volunteered with the Umpqua Valley Community Emergency Response Team and served as board member for the Sunshine Road Acres Association. He would joke that he was “retired, but not really.” He loved taking his John Deere tractor down to grade the local community road or driving his beloved Range Rover and Tyler, one of his dogs, into town.

After moving recently to Junction City, Oregon, Stan enjoyed his regular phone calls with family and friends, his trips to the hardware stores and Starbucks, and listening to music, particularly Mozart. “You can never have too much Mozart,” he would say.

Preceded in death by his parents; his former wife, Linda; and his sister Elaine, Stanley is survived by daughter Cordie Burgess (Chris) of Chico, California; son Neil Miller (Rebecca) of Salt Lake City, Utah; sister Carol Miller Blauvelt of Manassas, Virginia; brother Ronald Miller of Broadway, Virginia ; grandchildren Ainsley and Konnor Burgess, Alexandra and Grant Miller; and Alf, as well as numerous nieces and nephews and so many friends.

Stanley leaves behind an amazing legacy in the audio business but will mostly be remembered and missed by those that loved him for his generosity, his positive outlook, and his powerful voice and presence. He would close most phone calls in the last year with “Onward and upward!” Those that were privileged to have him in their lives will honor that.

Memorial Celebration of life services will be announced soon. Expressions of sympathy can be forwarded through the Murphy-Musgrove Funeral Home, Junction City, OR. Memorial contributions can be made to the Southern California Mountains Foundation in San Bernardino, CA.