SPRING GLEN, Utah — Work is nearing completion on a monument for those who died in the Crandall Canyon mine disaster last year.
Sculptor Karen Jobe Templeton has been working on clay relief faces of the nine who died in August — six miners trapped after the mine collapsed and three who died trying to rescue them.
The sculptures are expected to be delivered to a Lehi foundry this week, where they’ll be cast in bronze and mounted on a curved wall. The memorial will be placed along the highway between Huntington and the mine, not far from the junior high school where friends and families gathered as the disaster unfolded.
Templeton said she worked hard to capture the essence of the men in her sculptures. That has meant connecting with family members.
“Every one of the families has these stories that come from the soul,” she said. Some things she has heard “have never been shared anywhere, just sweet, personal things.”
