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Miller Bean Funeral Home, Inc. Paul C. Buttner FD, Supervisor Robert J. Miller Bean, President Valerie M. Miller Bean FD, Vice President
Our History This is a section that may or may not remain. If it seems to answer some of the many questions that we are asked it will stay. If it receives very few hits then it will be deleted. Maybe people would just rather call on the telephone and ask? Miller Bean Funeral Home, Inc. is owned by Robert J. Miller Bean and his lovely bride Valerie M. Miller Bean. Robert was born and raised in Scranton and is the fifth generation of his family to operate the funeral home. Officially began working there (paying taxes) in 1970. Valerie was born and raised in Lansdale, PA and we met when she moved here in 1985 pursuing her nursing career and education. We employ a full time employee, Paul C. Buttner, and several part time helpers. I like to think that we are in the business for the same reason my family was over one hundred years ago. I can't be sure, because I didn't even know any of them then, but from what has been handed down and from all the old records and ledgers that I've read and reread over the years I am pretty certain that we have the same purpose and ethics as they did. Prior to ourselves there have been: Some Of Our Current Staff
Robert J. Miller Bean, President Fifth Consecutive Generation
Valerie M. Miller Bean, Funeral Director, BSN, RN and Vice-President of Miller Bean Funeral Home, Inc.
Paul C. Buttner, Funeral Director and Supervisor at Miller Bean Funeral Home, Inc. I had often heard the stories of my great, great grandparents owning every property on the odd side of the 400 block of Cedar Avenue, a large portion of the even side and the complete odd side of the 300 block of Hickory street. I never quite understood why, our family were not the land baron types. I was always told that the properties were used as rentals to mainly miners that couldn't afford living in the mining camp towns, immigrants who arrived here with nothing to get them started, most were headed to Philadelphia, travelers whom couldn't afford the hotels, transients and the homeless. I must be naive, because I didn't think that there were homeless people back then. I thought everybody had somebody, they probably did, but they were no longer involved with them. I never knew what to think of those stories, they sounded good, but I didn't see how they could do it. But very recently all of those questions have been answered. I was able to find all the original deeds to all the properties mentioned, the loan papers to buy them, the tax receipts and most importantly, the day to day ledger books showing what took place from day to day. Who paid and how they paid. In those days there was more bartering taking place than the exchange of money it seemed. It was a great find after hearing and wondering after all these years. Although along with the good sometimes we find things we are not so proud of. I used to think that I was a pretty giving person. I donate to groups, organizations, individuals and so on. My relatives on the other hand you could almost say gave away the farm. I also found a repossession order from Citizens Savings Bank, then located at 505 Cedar Avenue. Along with it was a letter from the president stating to the effect that time has run out and if they weren't ready to collect all the money owed them from the tenants that the bank would take over ownership and they would all be out in the streets. There were some lawsuits from suppliers of ice and fuel for the tenants. A lawsuit from workmen and contractors who had never been paid. From what I can gather from the available notes and records, it was the tenants that were to pay for the services. So many of them had been living there free of charge from my relatives with the understanding they would take care of those things. Incidentally, the bank obligation, and all of the other problems were satisfied by using funds from the store and funeral business which looked, according to the books, that it took its toll, because they were practically giving away their services to those that could not afford it. It was not very long after that that all of the properties on the odd side of Cedar Avenue were sold. I guess enough was enough. They did keep the properties immediately surrounding the funeral home and used them for the same as before, but only as they wrote the 'reliable' were asked to move in. I can still remember a couple of them from when I was a child. Although parts of the following seem humorous now, I'm sure that they weren't at the time. Something else I came across recently which I had heard bits and pieces of over the years was an accounting written by an ancestor who tells of the day Scranton was having a parade, I can't be absolutely sure but I think it was to celebrate the end of the Spanish-American War. Back then without any of the tele-communications which we have available to us today, someone was always present at the funeral home. Day and night, everyday. Well the relative that was staying behind and going to miss the parade was approached by a longtime tenant who offered to stay and take care of things so that he could go to the parade. Well he did, and while he was gone he found every red cent he could throughout the funeral home and store, took the gigantic ring of skeleton keys for all of the rentals up and down the block and entered everyone's room taking every penny he could find. According to the ledger the amount totaled just under $300.00 including everybody, ourselves and the tenants. I no longer wonder why I'm destined to never have much more money than I need to pay the bills because what my ancestors did was offer to repay whatever was taken from them. They had felt it was there fault. The thing I find humorous was that when they announced that they were going to replace the tenants loss, all of a sudden the amount for just the tenants come to over $1000. They were reimbursed, but only for the amount that they originally said was taken. People. If this section proves interesting to our visitors, it will be expanded on. |
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