Philippi, W.Va. – The funerals began early. There were just so many in West Virginia coal-mining towns this Sunday.
And after the agonizing heartbreak that played out on television as families learned that 12 miners they thought were alive in the Sago Mine had died, the funerals were, for the most part, private affairs.
The miners’ relatives and members of their tightknit 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 one another, many staring at their feet as they walked inside to remember Jackie 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 his colleagues descended into the mine, said his cousin, Scotty Felton, 42, of Philippi.
Weaver’s family planned to bury him next to his son, who died as a child about 20 years ago in a motorcycle accident.
The first service was for 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, W.Va.
“I know I’ll see him again,” said Groves’ wife of 28 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 Tuesday. Another had yet to be scheduled.
The lone survivor of the mine remained hospitalized and had yet to wake up Sunday afternoon after several days of heavy sedation.
Near the mine, which has been sealed off by federal and state regulators, more than 100 people gathered Sunday morning at Sago Baptist Church, the building where the families kept vigil for more than 40 hours after the explosion Jan. 2.
The survivor, 26-year-old Randal McCloy Jr., was 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 while hospital officials said in a statement Sunday his sedation had been stopped, they said it would take awhile for the medication to clear his system.
Once that happens, neurological testing can begin to determine the extent of the damage he suffered.
McCloy’s wife, Anna, spoke briefly with reporters at the hospital, asking that attention Sunday focus on those whose lives were to be remembered.
