MILLER FAMILY AT HAZARD CONSTRUCTION COMPANY.
August 27, 2019
My name is Larry Miller and I have been an employee of ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø since 1973. At the request of ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø President Jason Mordhorst, I would like to share with you the story of my family and our long connection to ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø Construction.
First Generation
The Miller family and ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø Construction connection all started in 1936 when my uncle, Raymond Miller started with R. E. ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø Contracting Company as a Laborer.  When World War II began in 1941, Uncle Ray could not enlist in the military as he had contracted polio when he was young and had physical issues as a result. He stayed on the home front and worked for ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø throughout World War II.
After the war, Ray’s five brothers came to work at ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø. They were: Ernie Miller (Father to Steve and Larry Miller,) Harvey Miller, Clarence Miller, Everett Miller and Earl Miller. For a few years, all 6 brothers work at ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø at the same time. Some came and went, but Ray Miller and Ernie Miller continued and never left ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø until they both retired.
Second Generation
Steve Miller (son of Ernie Miller) came to ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø in 1970. Remarkably, both Ray Miller and Ernie Miller still worked at ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø. My Uncle Ray was a Laborer and my father Ernie Miller was a Foreman. I remember my uncle Ray telling my older brother Steve that his first job was digging ditches in Pacific Beach for a sewer project. The trenches for this pipe job were hand dug!!
I (Larry Miller) came to work at ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø in 1973, I was a laborer on a pipe crew under Johnny Digman and did work under my father’s watch on a big pipe job laying 88-inch double barrel pipe, I was the pipe mudder. My brother Steve Miller continued working for ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø from 1970 until his retirement in 2017. Steve started out as a labor, then an operator, superintendent, officer of the company, and owner,47 years at the same company with no breaks, not heard of much today. I do not know when my father and uncle retired, but Steve and I worked with both our uncle and our father at one time, that was a very special time as I look back on it. I worked for ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø for 22 years before I went to work for Sim J. Harris. I returned to ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø in 2007. In total, I have been with ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø for 34 incredible years.
I (Larry Miller) am the last of the Miller family to work at ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø Construction since 1936. ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø has been good to the Miller family, all of us made a good living, and had rewarding careers. I am retiring at the end of this year 2019, with 47 years in the trade, with no regrets.
I remember when I was very young, I lived in Clairmont in San Diego, in the type of home that Pappy ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø wanted all his foreman (like Ernie Miller) and his employees to own. Pappy wanted his employees to live in a neighborhood that ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø had graded and paved, this was in 1954. I do remember Pappy driving up to my parent’s house in a big black car, late 1950’s. I do not know the extent of the visit as I may have been 3 or 4 years old, but I remember Pappy being bigger than life to me. He was an amazing man.
I will long remember my years at ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø Construction Company, the people I got to know, and the living we all made to enjoy all the good things. I started at ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø as a laborer for the first 12 years, then as an operator, a grading and paving foreman, then as a superintendent and finally a general superintendent. I never would have guessed when I started with ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø at the age of 18 where this career would take me. Now I am 65 and retiring. I am proud that I have been with a company that has provided so much for my father, my uncles, my brother and myself. It feels like it all started yesterday, where did the time go?
Thank You ÄϹ¬NG28¹ÙÍø Construction Company for all the great years, I wish you good bye.
Larry W. Miller
General Superintendent