To thank the community for their support, they invite the public to attend his funeral and enjoy a meal after the service.
WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The funeral for the victim of last week’s Warner Robins hit-and-run is coming up, and the family is doing something special to honor him.
A week ago, a driver hit and killed Christopher Miolen while he was walking on Watson Boulevard.
Since then, his family has been mourning his loss and organizing a public funeral to be held in McCullough Funeral Home at Warner Robins.
Bright flowers and various photographs line Keith Miolen’s childhood home.
On Wednesday morning Keith flew in from New York.
“I felt like I needed to go home and tell my mom face to face,” Keith said.
“It’s been a tough week. Schizophrenia hit him at a young age, and that was tough on Chris, tough on the family. We started to see a side that none of us expected,” Keith said. “That’s one of the reasons we’re so supportive of each other and people in the community. Everyone knows someone or comes across someone on the road who is mentally ill or homeless. We want to try to make it that is the central point of this situation. and not the negative”.
Keith also said that Chris has been homeless most of his life.
“I’m sure the community has come across Chris many times over the years, pushing a buggy down the road,” said Keith.
He said the family kept in touch with him over the years and tried to help him.
“Put him in a hotel and anything to get him off the streets, feed him. Chris always came back,” Keith said. “He was happy doing that, and whatever we gave him, he would give away. He wasn’t a material person and we thought this would be the last chance for Chris to give back as well.”
To thank the community for their support, they are inviting the public to attend his funeral and enjoy a meal after the service.
“We decided to find some of his friends and let them be the pallbearers, and something evolved from that,” Keith said.
Keith says Chris’s journey has been “difficult to understand,” but his family has always loved him.
“We’ve cared about Chris for years, being homeless, just like other families care about their family members. He comes from a strong family, so the community is involved,” Keith said. “We know that other families are in the same situation, as far as others can see, mental illness affects everyone, even if you come from a good home.”
He faces charges of vehicular manslaughter, leaving the scene of an accident, hit and run and failing to report an accident.
“We don’t have any hard feelings. We’ve worried about Chris for years about being homeless, just like other families worry about their family members who are homeless. Eventually, something is going to happen to all of our feelings.” Keith said. “It bothers me and others in the community that they didn’t stop. I will say the driver had a green light. We are a fair and just family, a God fearing family. Chris was not crossing in a crosswalk. He was We sympathized with the situation, but they didn’t stop. That’s all they had to do, just stop. It wasn’t their fault, apart from not stopping.”
Keith says that “patience and understanding” is his advice to others going through similar situations.
“I moved my brother to New York to try to get him off the streets. He’s lived with me a few times, but he’s lived in group homes, we put him up in hotels and things like that, and I lost patience. We’ve been mad at each other and that kind of thing, but that’s a situation that happens in every family,” Keith said. “It’s normal. But it’s hard to understand how someone can be happy and homeless if that doesn’t apply to you and that’s not our lifestyle, but it’s there. If there was a message to send to people in this kind of situation”. I would be patient and understanding. It’s hard to understand when someone thinks like that. You want to take care of him, and you want to do what’s best for him, but at the same time, you want him to be happy; And that’s been a tough pill to swallow, especially for those who loved him.”
Keith says that if you can’t make it to his funeral Saturday morning at 11 a.m., he asks you to make a donation to the Salvation Army, the Phoenix Center and the River Edge or to help the next homeless person who passes by. car in honor of Chris.
Keith also says that if you want to donate food for the funeral, you can call him at 478-318-3697, or you can call McCullough Funeral Home at (478) 953-1478.
McCullough Funeral Home is located at 417 South Houston Lake Road, Warner Robins, GA 31088.
