A MARBLE CAKE sculpture honors the catering career of the late Emogene Strickland Miller.
The family of a Cairo native who became known in life as “Jean The Cake Lady” has paid tribute to her artistic baking skills with a unique sculpture in the Cairo Cemetery.
A wedding cake carved out of Italian marble now adorns the final resting place of Emogene Strickland Miller who died Aug. 8, 2017.
“The statue was modeled after one of the hundreds of wedding cakes she made during her 50-year career,” states Miller’s daughter, Joan Cooper of Cairo.
Cooper says her brother, Glenn Miller, suggested the idea. Then, after finally deciding which cake to have sculpted, they found a Michigan company to assist in the project. She says the actual sculpting took place in China.
Emogene Strickland Miller was born in Cairo on April 29, 1932, the daughter of Cleo and Willie Strickland. She married Wallace Miller on July 9, 1950, and they had three children, including Mark Miller who lives in Jacksonville, in addition to Joan Cooper and Glenn Miller, both of Cairo. Mrs. Miller became a wedding caterer in Jacksonville, Fla., and during her career of over 50 years, she was known affectionately as “Jean, the Cake Lady.” Mrs. Miller returned to her hometown in 2001, according to her daughter, where she lived 16 years until her death in 2017.
