BUCKHANNON, W.Va. -- They gathered together yesterday to bury Jesse L. Jones.

	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Family members and friends of Jack Weaver, one of 12 miners killed in Sago Mine, gather for his burial yesterday at Barbour Memorial Cemetery, about 8 miles south of Philippi, W.Va. Click photo for larger image. Related article Doctors plan to bring mine survivor out of coma

Some were relatives. Many were friends or neighbors. Some work in the coal mines, as he had.

They gathered to pray and mourn for one of the 12 men killed when an explosion deep inside the mine trapped them underground.

It was a scene that played out several times yesterday as funerals were held for six of the miners who perished in the Sago mine.

Accidents that kill and maim are a horrific part of life for the people who live amidst the hills and hollows where coal is mined.

"There are a lot of coal miners here today," said the Rev. Donald Butcher, as he looked out over the crowd of more than 150 people at the Tomblyn-Whitescarver Funeral Chapel on Route 20 South.

"Jesse's grandfather on his father's side was killed in a coal mine explosion," said Mr. Butcher, who officiated at the 2 p.m. funeral service.

"I'm not a miner, but I know what you are going through. My grandfather was blinded in a coal mine when he was just in his 20s. I had uncles injured in mining accidents. When I was a boy they would show me their hands" with fingers missing.

"I wish I had the right words to tell you" why such things happen, said Mr. Butcher, who spoke of God's love and God's ways. The minister said he could not explain why God would take Mr. Jones, who was 44, at such an early age away from his family, including two daughters.

He eulogized Mr. Jones as a man who loved to hunt, fish, camp and pitch horseshoes. He noted that Mr. Jones was a man who spent more than half his life working as a coal miner.

Pointing to the lights in the ceiling above Mr. Jones' open casket, Mr. Butcher wondered aloud if most people realize that the lights in their homes are powered by electricity generated by coal brought up out of the deep and the darkness by Mr. Jones and other miners.

The service was short and subdued. Many of the mourners wept quietly. Some wore Sunday-best suits and ties. Others wore jeans and work boots and ball caps.

Born in Buckhannon, Mr. Jones lived in Pickens, and that is where he was buried. More than 50 cars drove in a somber procession for nearly an hour to the Pickens Cemetery, nearly 40 miles away.

West Virginia state troopers and local police helped with traffic control. The family invited mourners to gather at the Pickens fire hall for food and drink.

Traffic was perhaps heavier than usual yesterday in Buckhannon as the parking lots of funeral homes and churches overflowed with people attending viewings and services for the miners.

The family of Jerry Groves allowed The Associated Press into his memorial service, where friends and relatives told stories about the 56-year-old who spent half his life working in the coal mines. Though the tears flowed, the tiny church also echoed with laughter.

"We want to hear laughter because that's the kind of man he was," said Mike Rose, Mr. Groves' son-in-law.

Mr. Groves' wife of 29 years, Debbie, told the crowd her husband was the love of her life since she was in the fourth grade. They were both "ornery kids," she said. She never thought when he kissed her goodbye last Monday morning that he wouldn't come home.

"I know I'll see him again," she said. "Eternity is forever. Our time here is just a vapor."

At a funeral home in Philippi, the pain of loss was clear as nearly 100 mourners hugged one another, many staring at their feet as they walked inside to remember Jackie Weaver, a 52-year-old electrician who had spent 26 years working in the mines.

Mr. Weaver always wrote "Jesus saves" in the coal dust on his mine car as he and colleagues descended into the mine, said his cousin, Scotty Felton, 42, of Philippi.

"He was a wonderful man with a wonderful sense of humor," said Melanie Hayhurst, 44, a friend from Fairmont who said she and her family had known Mr. Weaver for about 15 years.

Mr. Weaver's family planned to bury him next to his son, who died as a child about 20 years ago in a motorcycle accident, Ms. Hayhurst said.

"He was a Christian," she said of Mr. Weaver, "so I am not worried."

There were so many funerals it was occasionally difficult for the funeral home employees to remember the times and locations without checking. Funerals also were held yesterday for Martin Toler Jr., David Lewis and Alva Bennett.

Wright Funeral Home worker Pete Sandridge's eyes filled with tears when he was asked if he knew any of the miners personally. All he could manage was to hold up four fingers, then he walked away.

Near the mine, sealed off by federal and state regulators, more than 100 people gathered yesterday morning at Sago Baptist Church. The church had been a gathering place for families during the vigil for the trapped miners. It was where they first heard all the men were alive, and where they got the agonizing news hours later that all but one had died.

Churchgoers sang hymns yesterday, including "The Sweet Bye and Bye" and "Farther Along," which speak of accepting God's unfathomable plan.

The Rev. Wease Day urged worshippers not to look for someone to blame.

Instead, Mr. Day said, worshippers should imagine they had only 10 hours to live, and write a note about how they would spend those final hours.