Miller

Six weeks after a devastating car wreck, Emporia State student Jessica Miller died last Thursday at her home in Americus. She was 22 years old.

“Jessica was a very positive person, and that is something I learned from her,” said her mother Carrie Miller-Hinz. “She always had a smile on her face, no matter what.”

Miller, a senior elementary education major, was injured in a Feb. 18 one vehicle crash on Road 130, in Americus. Her cousin, Matt Peres was driving and Miller was thrown from the car. Miller suffered head trauma and multiple broken bones. She had been a patient at Stormont-Vail, Topeka, and KU Medical Center, and was released to home hospice care last month.

Peres, 19, is recovering at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Neb.

Miller was an eye donor, something her mother said she was passionate about.

“When she was 16 she got her driver’s license,” Miller-Heinz said. “Immediately she asked me, she said ‘mom, have you signed up to be a donor,’ and when I said ‘no,’ she exclaimed ‘that is such an important thing, why would you not sign up for something like that if you have the chance to save somebody else’s life?’ She was such a giving person.”

Miller’s father said she was also a great leader, and was cheerleading captain at Emporia High, where she was able to cheer for her favorite sport: football.

“I got her hooked at a very young age on the Chiefs,” said Darold Miller, her father. “One year we went to Minnesota to a game and we went a couple times to Kansas City.”

He and many others said she loved the Kansas City Chiefs, which was why they choose to bury her in a pink Derrick Thomas jersey, her favorite player. In addition, most pallbearers wore Chiefs jerseys.

“That was her favorite one, so that’s the one I gave her to wear, that was Jessica,” said Darold. “All her college friends came out, and they said, ‘yep, that was Jessica.’ She actually went and got that jersey a long time ago, and she wore it quite a bit.”

Miller was also passionate about teaching.

“She has always wanted to teach,” Miller-Hinz said. “She wanted to teach elementary because they show that learning, they give that back to you. She liked that gradual process.”

Miller had been student teaching second grade at Admire Elementary at the time of the accident.

“You could always tell that she enjoyed what she was doing, working with the children,” said Lendi Bland, Miller’s student teaching supervisor. “It just seemed like she was always really happy to be there with them.”

Miller was awarded by the Teacher’s College at ESU with Baccalaureate Recognition for the Bachelor of Science in Education on Tuesday. This was created by the faculty to honor her dedication to her education, which she had nearly completed.

Bland said Miller’s family supported her aspiration to teach.

“What I really admired about her was how hard she worked and how supportive her family was of her to get this far and be so close to graduating,” Blanc said. “In my talking with the family it seemed like something that they were just so, so proud of her for doing.”

Memorial donations or cards can be sent to Darold Miller at 101 E. Locust, Americus, Kan., 66835. Contributions may also be sent to Emporia State Bank, where the family created a memorial account.

Funeral services were held Tuesday Morning at Bethel Baptist Church. Miller was buried in Americus Cemetery.

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Bracelets were made to raise funds for Jessica Miller who was injured in a car accident Feb.18, 2010. Bracelets are $5.00 and go to the care of Miller. Erica Cassella/The Bulletin

In the living room of her family’s home in Americus, Jessica Miller, senior elementary education major, has been constantly surrounded by friends and family.

After a car accident on Feb. 18, Jessica and her cousin Matt Peres, both in critical condition, were flown to Stormont Vail, a hospital in Topeka. Miller was later taken to Kansas University Medical Center for a series of tests and then brought home by her family over spring break, where she now receives hospice care.

Because standard life support procedures were causing her body stress that was proving detrimental, her family decided home hospice care was best.

“For Jessica what hospice care really means is she’s been taken home to sort of decide for herself which way she’s going,” said Lindsey Smith, a close friend of Miller and recent graduate of Emporia State. “She’s still being monitored 24 hours a day by people, and hospice nurses are checking everything from her medications to output for her systems and her responses. But if she were to go, they want her to be able to go peacefully.”

While Miller’s responses have been attributed to reflexes, her family said Peres, though still unable to speak, has been making progress at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Neb.

Carrie Miller-Hinz, Miller’s mother, said that Miller is very family oriented.

“She has a very active social life with friends and family,” said Miller-Hinz. “Her two little sisters are just so close to her. She would always do anything to help anybody out.”

Miller’s father, Darold Miller, added that she always helped on the farm and is a huge Kansas City Chiefs fan.

“She was a very blessed child to have,” Darold said. “She was very easy to raise and a very big daddy’s girl.”

After meeting her about three years ago at CATO, Smith said that she and Miller had “date night” once a week where they would frequently watch “The Biggest Loser.”

“I loved our date nights because it didn’t matter what was on television or what we were doing,” Smith said. “We just made homemade pizza or tacos and sat around in our pajamas and we always had ice cream. It meant a lot to me that we kept doing that even though we had homework or other things going on. I miss those.”

To help the family with their medical expenses, Smith and Miller’s grandfather have organized fundraisers, the first of which took place during the first weekend of March at Wheat State Pizza, where Miller worked for about a year during high school.

Wheat State Pizza donated 30 percent of their profits for the entire weekend, an amount totaling about $1,500.

“We always want to do better for her family,” said Ryan Murphy, owner of Wheat State Pizza. “But I think we did well.”

In addition, Wheat State Pizza discount cards can be purchased on site or from Smith and other friends of Miller for $10 and include five punches for buy one large or extra large pizza and get one free deals. Wheat State Pizza donated 500 of these cards to be sold.

Over the past couple weeks, Smith, and others, have organized a bracelet fundraiser. The bracelets are imprinted with the phrase “Jessica in our Hearts” and the date of the accident. So far, 300 have been sold at a minimum price of a $5 donation each.

“She has so many different networks that are coming through and everybody is really concerned,” said Lori Sparkman, her boss at CATO, a women’s clothing retail store who has known her since childhood. “Everybody’s really rooting for her so we were just thinking that the bracelets would be something we can give people and also help the family with bills and things.”

Upcoming fundraisers will be held today at Gambino’s and at the Chicken House in Olpe, on April 1. Gambino’s will donate 25 percent of their profits for the day and Olpe Chicken House has offered 20 percent. The proceeds of these fundraisers will be divided to cover both Peres’ and Miller’s medical fees.

“It’s just been amazing how much help and support that we’ve gotten with prayers and everything from this community has been overwhelming,” said Miller-Hinz. “It’s been a very giving town and we greatly appreciate it.”

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