"Team Member Spotlight"

The Asst. Zookeeper's company puts out a quarterly newsletter. He and his brothers were featured in the latest mailing.

Team Member Spotlight

by Hank Parke

THE MILLER BROTHERS

Underground Coal Miners

Brothers are often very competitice and have many things in common. Tim, Dan, and Todd Miller are no exception. The three grew up in Westmont and it seems that they have a long history of following in each others' foot steps. All three brothers are underground miners: Tim is a section mechanic at Quecreek, Dan works at the Miller Mine ad chief electrician and Todd is assistant mine foreman at Quecreek. They are fourth generation miners and proud of it. Dan began mining first and he said, "Once Tim saw how much I liked it, he began his mining career." Todd was the last one to get into mining, starting in July 2003 at Quecreek.

All three of them are Eagle Scouts. As Dan explained, "We grew up in scouting. We started as Cub Scouts and as we grew up we worked at scout camp in the summers." All three brother and their wives enjoy riding motorcycles along with their parents, Krista and Robert. Todd said, "We ride just about any time of the year." Dan and his family also like both flat water and whitewater canoeing. They go on summer canoe camping trips at Kinzua State Park.

Both Dan and Todd have their EMT certification and Tim is currently taking class. Tim is the last brother to take the class because he was off work for two years undergoing kidney dialysis. On April 23, 2008 he received a kidney from his brother Todd. "Both my brothers were willing and Todd was the best match" said Tim. He added, "I really missed mining during that time. I'm underground again now and I'm happy."

Although many families end up scattered all over the country because of job availability, all three Miller brothers still live in Cambria County. The mining industry has kept them close to their parents and their long mining tradition. Tim, Dan, and Todd wouldn't have it any other way.

There was additional note in the newsletter concerning Dan's mine:

Miller Mine has been the shining star of the deep mines for the past several months. After completing the seal and cut-through project, which seemed to last forever, production and conditions have been better than expected. Congratulations to all the men at Miller for a job well done.