Funerals begin for miners killed in blast

PHILIPPI, W.Va. — The funerals began early. They had to — there were just so many in West Virginia's coal-mining towns Sunday.

And after the heartbreak that played out on television as families learned that 12 miners they thought were alive in the Sago Mine had actually died, the funerals were, for the most part, a private affair. The miners' relatives and their tight-knit communities filled the services, while police created a protective ring around funeral homes, asking the media not to intrude.

Even from a distance, the pain was clear as nearly 100 mourners hugged, many staring at their feet as they walked inside to remember Jack Weaver, a 52-year-old electrician who had spent 26 years working in the mines. Weaver always wrote "Jesus saves" in the coal dust of his mine car as he and colleagues descended into the mine, said his cousin Scotty Felton, 42, of Philippi.

"He was a wonderful man with a wonderful sense of humor," said Melanie Hayhurst, 44, a friend from Fairmont who said she and her family had known Weaver for about 15 years.

"He was a Christian," she said of Weaver, "so I am not worried."

There were so many funerals it was occasionally difficult for funeral-home employees to remember the times and locations without checking.

Wright Funeral Home worker Pete Sandridge's eyes filled with tears when he was asked if he knew any of the miners. He held up four fingers, then walked away.

First was Martin Toler Jr., whose funeral was held Sunday morning in Tesla. Next was Weaver's service in Philippi at 1 p.m. Services for David Lewis, Jesse Jones and Alva Bennett were an hour later, in Philippi and Buckhannon. Jerry Groves' memorial service was later in Cleveland.

"I know I'll see him again," said Groves' wife of nearly 29 years, Debbie, speaking during the memorial service. "Eternity is forever. Our time here is just a vapor."

More funerals are planned this week: three today, two on Tuesday. Another had yet to be scheduled.

The lone survivor of the mine explosion, 26-year-old Randal McCloy Jr., remained hospitalized in Morgantown, after being transferred late Saturday from Pittsburgh, where he had under gone special treatment for carbon-monoxide poisoning.

He had been in a medically induced coma to allow his brain time to heal, and although hospital officials said in a statement Sunday that his sedation had been stopped, they said it would take awhile for the medication to clear his system. Once McCloy wakes, doctors can begin neurological testing to determine the extent of the damage.

Dr. Larry Roberts, the head of McCloy's treatment team at West Virginia University's Ruby Memorial Hospital, said McCloy had shown signs of improvement since Saturday. On Sunday night, he was still in critical condition and attached to a ventilator but able to breathe on his own, according to the hospital statement.

McCloy's wife, Anna, spoke briefly with reporters at the hospital, asking that attention Sunday focus on those whose lives were to be remembered.

"We are thinking of them today and throughout this difficult time, and we ask you to please keep all the families in your thoughts and prayers," she said.