Updated:
February 22, 2007
orn in Mankato, Minnesota, Marion Clark came to Riverside with her family when she was seven years old. She would become a stenographer and secretary to Mission Inn owner Frank Miller. Two years after Miller’s first wife Isabella died, he married Marion Clark. The wedding ceremony was held in New York City in December of 1910 (Gale, 1938).Throughout their life together, she referred to her husband as “Mister Miller.” (The Press Monday, May 22, 1967 Section B, p.1).
Frank Miller built a home (1918-1921) in Laguna Beach for Marion, on property he purchased in 1887 (Jones, 1991). Designed by Mission Inn architect Arthur Benton, the home contained many of the same elements and building materials found at the Mission Inn. Miller named the home in honor of his wife; the name Mariona is carved above the entrance in stone. The home sits on high cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Any children who visited Mariona, including Miller’s three grandchildren, loved to explore the two tide pools at the bottom of the cliffs.
The couple traveled around the world collecting items for the hotel. In 1911, they traveled to Europe. They journeyed to China and Japan with Frank’s daughter and her husband, as well as Frank's sister, Alice Richardson, in 1925 (Kloltz, 1982).
Marion and other family members helped author Zona Gale prepare her biography of Frank Augustus Miller after his death. Marion wrote,
I do want his name and his work to be carried on. It is not only very important
to the business to keep his spirit active in the hotel, but he is an example that will
help to keep us all “in the middle of the road.” . . . Now, I get to my joy out of
helping to carry on his work. . . (letter to Zona Gale dated August 7, 1935).
Although she remained on the board of the family-run Frank A. Miller, Inc., Marion Miller sold the Laguna Beach home in 1941 (Jones, 1991). She purchased a home near the Victoria Country Club in Riverside, and lived there until her death in 1972 (Jones, 1991).
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