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Memorial service praised

By Ed Horvat 3 min read

“Welcome, brother.” That was the greeting I received Sunday when I arrived at the 53rd annual Robena Memorial Service in Greene County, sponsored by the United Mine Workers of America. I truly felt welcomed – there was a sense of fraternity and connection among all those in attendance.

I was 12 years old when the two explosions on Dec. 6, 1962 took the lives of 37 miners. My dad worked at Robena on that cold winter day. We heard the news that there had been an explosion. Our worry was heightened because Dad did not come home at his regular time. We sat waiting at the window, waiting for his car to appear. Many anxious hours later, he arrived home. We were relieved. Thirty-seven other families were not so fortunate.

Dad was delayed because he had become part of the rescue effort, but to no avail.

In 1966 dad became ill with an aggressive form of lupus. Two weeks before he died in July 1968, he was in the Intensive Care Unit at the Cleveland Clinic. The nurses asked mom if she would mind leaving the room for about 40 minutes, so they could work with him. She retreated to the waiting room outside of the ICU. When she returned to dad’s room, she told me that he had a peaceful look on his face – something she had not seen in quite some time.

She greeted him. He said, “I had some visitors while you were gone.” She was surprised to hear this because no one passed by her in the waiting room. She asked, “Who was here?” He said that his dad was there (my paternal grandfather had died six months before, in January 1968). And then, by name, he told her that two of his co-wokers who had died in the Robena explosion were there also. “The three of them told me not to worry. When my time comes, they will help me over to the other side,” said dad.

That peace stayed with him until his death two weeks later.

My mom told me that story years after my dad’s death. I don’t recall the names of his two co-workers who joined my grandfather (also a coal miner) to visit my dad prior to his death, but the names of all 37 were read at the service. A number of family members who lost loved ones in that disaster were present. It was good being in their company. I am grateful to the UMWA for sponsoring this event.

Attending the memorial service on Sunday helped me to better understand the fraternity, solidarity, and community of miners my mad worked with. It’s my hope, that when it is my turn to leave this body, I will let go of hands here, grab hold of hands on the other side, and hear the greeting I heard when I arrived at the memorial service: “Welcome.”

Ed Horvat is a resident of Hopwood.

Hopwood, PA

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