Jess M. Miller 1936 - 1984

Jess Miller was a civil engineer that lived in the East. When juvenile on-set diabetes began to take its toll on Jess he moved his family here to Utah in 1972 and bought some land with a 100 year old cabin on it in the Uintah Basin.

After working for the Ute Tribe in Ft. Duchesne as a building inspector, Jess accepted a position with Uintah County as there building inspector and held that position for nine years until the time of his death in 1984.

Jess was a quiet unassuming man, and yet his impact was felt by everyone he came in contact with.

In 1978 diabetes lead to the amputation of his right leg, but this did not dampen his spirit. Four years later, he lost his other leg. Still Jess continued on never complaining, and when asked how he was doing he always replied, “we’re doing just great”.

Jess’s lengthy stay in the hospital did not reduce his determination to continue to serve. Jess carried on his daily routine from his hospital bed. Many times when his wife Rose would come to visit him at the hospital she would find contractors with blueprints spread all over Jess’s room, or his secretary taking dictation, or numerous phone calls as Jess conducted “business as usual”.

After being released from the hospital Jess could be seen scooting down the long fight of stairs at work. He would do his inspections on a modified skateboard to get him to the house. Jess would then scoot around the house and up and down the stairs to do his inspections.

During all that happened to Jess, he always thought of others before himself and knowing, he had a short time left, he convinced his mother-in-law to move from Detroit and live by the family. Jess told his mother-in-law “Rose will need you soon”.

So in April 1984 Jess began a monumental task, for a man in his condition. Evenings after work he could be seen using a hand spade digging the footings and foundation to place a doublewide trailer for Roses mother. He would take off his legs, scoot down out of the wheelchair and crawl around measuring, digging, and forming up for the concrete pour.

After his mother-in-law had moved in Jess was not satisfied so he began to build her a garage.

On Friday, July 20, 1984, Rose picked Jess up from work. He ate supper then wheeled himself to Rose’s mothers to continue working on the garage. Although Jess was in good Spirits, he could no longer hide the lines of pain from his face. He had told Rose that his only fear was becoming an invalid and a burden to his family. That night Jess went to bed talking excitedly to Rose about the progress he was making on the garage. Jess was tired, and during the night God blessed him with final rest.

In 1986 the Utah Chapter of ICC gave Jess Miller (Rose accepted the award) the first of the chapters Jess M. Miller award.

The Jess M. Miller award is a once in a lifetime award for outstanding contributions to the building and safety field. Achievements must be significant to hold this person in the highest esteem for work that has impacted the chapter, ICC, and/or the community.