The Late Richard Miller Young Clonard man Richard Miller, who died in a car accident last week, was due to celebrate his 21st birthday next month with a big party in the Drinagh Court Hotel. The venue was booked and a few days before he died, Richard made a start on the invitation list which was coming close to about 200 people, although he deliberately downsized the number when telling his father, Tom the details. All the entended guests and hundreds more gathered instead for Richard's funeral in Clonard Church last Friday following his tragic death in the single-vehicle accident at Kileen, Crossabeg shortly before 10 p.m. last Tuesday night. Richard, of 142 Belvedere Grove, was on his way home from playing seven-a-side soccer with a local garage team at the Wexford Youths complex when the crash happened. On the return journey, his car overturned and collided with the garden wall of a house. His best friend, Robbie Keane from Gastlebridge who had also been playing soccer, arrived at the scene of the accident and went to his assistance. Richard's death has left his close, loving family and wide circle of friends mourning the loss of a young man whose positive, energetic outlook on life infected everyone he met. Open, affectionate and thoughtful with a mischievous sense of humour, Richard reached out to people of all ages. He enjoyed his life with a sense of urgency and seemed to take pleasure from everything he did. He is survived by his parents, Tom and Mary; his older sister, Anne Marie and younger sister, Caroline (16), his brother, Stephen (19), his girlfriend, Anja Abdullah; his grandmothers Kathleen Miller and Annie Murphy, his niece, Jade (10); his aunts, uncles, cousins, relatives and his many close friends. In the aftermath of his death, his family discovered that not only was Richard special to them, but he also touched the hearts of countless other people just by being himself. At his packed funeral Mass, his father, Tom described him as 'the light of our lives' and said he did not have the words to express the family's deep sense of loss. He recalled how sport-loving Richard insisted on joining Clonard GAA when he was only five, a year younger than the entry limit. With his mother standing on the sideline, he attended every training session until he was old enough to take part. From that day one he 'played every game like it was an All-Ireland Final'. He also played badminton and won Leinster and All-lreland titles when he was in St. Peter's College. He boxed with St. Joseph's Boys' Club and was in the 2nd Port of Wexford Sea Scouts when he was younger. He also loved fishing, shooting and reading. When he was three years old, Richard helped out with a church gate collection for the scouts. On the way home, Richard said his pants were falling off and Tom realised his pockets were full of change. When asked why he had the money in his pockets, his answered matter-of-factly, that 'people gave it to me'. In a St. Peter's College year book, he wrote that his ambition was to be a millionaire. Tom spoke of Richard's eagerness to learn to drive. He told him he would put him on his insurance if he earned enough to pay for it. He worked all summer and got the money together. Tom joked that he was lucky to ever see the car after that. Richard subsequently obtained his full driving licence at the first attempt. In the February of his Leaving Cert year, Richard asked to leave school and start a carpentry apprenticeship with his uncle, Paddy O' Leary. He promised to go back in June and do the exams. True to his word, he sat the Leaving Cert and passed it. He continued his apprenticeship with Denis Frayne's building firm and was in the final year when he died. 'He loved carpentry It was his calling', Tom to the congregation. He made many friends when he attended FAS training colleges in Waterford and Mallow, County Cork where he reguL~rly got up early and went for a run before cooking breakfast for all his house-mates. Many of them travelled from different parts of the country to attend his funeral last week. Virginia Frayne who got to know him well described him as 'a perfect young boy' who never missed a day's work. 'He was a pleasure to have working for you. He was like a son to us', she said. Tom said it is the little things that his family and friends will cherish most about Richard - the way he rubbed his freckled nose when telling a story, his cow's lick, the beaming smile that instilled confidence in others, the way he listened to everyone. He said the lesson that could be learned from his son's short life was that 'the only way to live life is as ff everything is a miracle'. His friend, Robbie who was like a second brother to him, also spoke at the Mass. He recalled that he and another friend got stranded in Courtown once after their car broke downand rang Richard. He arrived in double-quick time to tow them home and even thought of bringing two bottles of Lucozade because it was a hot day Tom said that Richard was like 'a brother to all his friends'. His Chaplin in St. Peter's, Fr. Aodhan Marken, celebrated the Mass and told the mourners of 'the tremendous air of sadness' there on Wednesday morning. He said Richard got his great respect and sense of decency from his parents and that he was a young man grounded in love. He spoke of 'the extraordinary qualities that made him stick out from the crowd'. Fr. Marken said Fr. Jimmy Moynihan told him that the Miller house wasn't big enough to hold all the love that was in it so it was only natural to give it away in abundance. His younger sister, Caroline wrote a poem called 'Somewhere in My Dreams' which she read to mourners during the funeral service. Richard was laid to rest in St. Ibar's Cemetery, Crosstown. Courtesy of the Wexford People 9 April 2008 Tweet

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