Mel Miller
November 4, 1953
June 24, 2006
Five years ago today my brother Mel passed away. To think of one story to tell about him would be impossible, there are so many, he was quite a character! I find that when I try to list his qualities here in this tribute I become to heavy- hearted to do that, I'll tell a few stories about him instead, and I'll tell you that if you were to have just met Mel for the first time you would know instantly that you were meeting someone who possessed the finest qualities found in people. To know him was to love him, in his lifetime he touched many people, and he is greatly missed by his family and friends.
I must say that there are many times when something occurs that we instantly think of Mel, For instance, he earned his living as a carpenter...I wonder what he would have thought of our house building project? And, of course, we can't play a game of cards without Mel's name coming up... he was the expert on "Howle's Rules", quite often referring to them to tip the scales in his favor. I don't want to say he cheated, but there were suspicious rules he quoted at certain moments of play, when he would then be accused of making them up! It was just like him to take a peek at the cards in your hand, then tell you that he hadn't peeked- that you had shown your hand to him. He had such a teddy bear quality to him that he could get away with that sort of thing, even though he would usually push us to the limit of our patience! He certainly didn't need to cheat to win, ever since we were kids he had a knack to always win at games! When we played Monopoly Mel would own all the property's, have all the money in the bank stacked in front of him, and the rest of the players were bankrupt! And that streak continued as adults, no matter what the game. The only person who gave him a run for his money in our family was mom, especially at word games. They would play Scrabble for hours...
His winning streak was also legend when it came to deer hunting, he always got his deer, and usually filled all his tags, meaning he got more than one deer in a season.
For many years Mel and I were the only members of the Miller clan left living in PA, we lived about 50 minutes from each other. In hindsight, I wish that we had spent more time together... The last time I saw Mel alive was on Father's Day of 2006, just two days before his accident on June 20, 2006. He had several pieces of cheesecake and fresh strawberries with us, and we talked and talked, he stayed late, and as usual I worried about him driving home, afraid that he would fall asleep at the wheel. Chris wanted to show him a game he played on the computer, since there was room for only one chair there, Chris sat on Mel's leg. I'll always remember that scene, Chris was much to big to sit on anyones lap, and Mel could barely walk when the game was over and he finally stood up because his leg was asleep. Mel didn't have any children of his own, but he loved kids-and they loved him!
Uncle Mel, the kiddies pal...
A poem I read once jarred me, sort of jumped off the page and into my face, because in a few words it described my brother quite well. I copied and saved it, and today it should be in The Meadville Tribune along with the picture above...
His life earnest, his actions kind,
A willing hand, an active mind,
Anxious to please, loath to offend,
A loving brother and faithful friend.
The 80's....
Dad and Mel Mel and Seth (camping at Caskey's)
Mel and Joe
Mel with one week old Chris 
I wish I could find pictures of everyone with Mel!
Here's one last picture of Mel, it is for all of us...
The look on his face says that he loves us all...
What a guy! Growing up he was like an older brother. Always watching out for us and teasing us all the time. I am sorry he was taken from this world so soon. Love you, Velma
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