Online fundraiser set up for Johnson County father killed in seven-vehicle crash
Before he was killed in a crash this week, Jesse Miller seemed to be “on the right track,” said his sister-in-law, Bianca Sisillo Zerni.
The 31-year-old father of three with one on the way kept notes all around his Overland Park home, lists of dreams and goals.
Among some of his aspirations: to understand the word of God, to live in the country, to travel the world with his wife, to visit Israel and to own a business, Zerni read.
“It just makes me smile,” Zerni said of her brother-in-law. “He had so many goals and aspirations and was so driven for his family.”
To help support his children and pregnant wife after his death, Zerni has helped set up an online fundraiser.
Jesse Miller, 31, died Tuesday after his van struck the back of a disabled semi-truck on Interstate 35, causing a chain reaction of collisions, according to the Kansas Highway Patrol. The wreck, which involved seven vehicles, was reported in the northbound lanes of the interstate, south of the 67th Street exit in Merriam. Two other drivers were seriously injured.
Miller left behind his pregnant wife, Lisamarie, and three children: Avery, 10; Jettison, 2; and Charlotte, 1. A Beebe Heating and Air Conditioning employee, Miller was the main provider for their household, so relatives have set up a GoFundMe account with the hopes of raising $150,000 to cover his funeral expenses and her medical expenses, among other things. He also recently bought for his family a minivan that needs to be paid off, according to the fundraiser.
J.R. Miller said his son was traveling between job sites at the time of the wreck. A man with a “big heart,” J.R. Miller said his son strived to do the best at anything he did and enjoyed playing baseball growing up. He loved being a parent, and considered one of the most important moments in his life to be “his salvation and transformation to loving Jesus,” his father said.
Though he says Jesse’s life was cut short, he thanks God for being able to see his son grow up, becoming a man who “touched many lives.”
In 2014, Jesse Miller met Lisamarie. The couple wedded in June 2018, a marriage founded on the word of God, the family said. Their love was “radiant,” Zerni described, “You can see their love for each other.”
The two sometimes struggled, but the couple “would never give up on each other,” said Zerni.
Lisamarie works part-time as a hair stylist, but her primary job, the fundraiser stated, is to take care of her children. The fundraiser was created to assure her she has “nothing to worry about during the remainder of her pregnancy and during the difficult months ahead.”
As of Thursday night, the GoFundMe had raised more than $26,000.
A memorial fund has also been set up with Central Bank Midwest..
Miller’s celebration of life will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at Countryside Church in Overland Park, where the Miller family went each Sunday.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 9:04 PM.
