Maker of the PET Mobility Cart since 1994.
Will you continue Earl’s vision in providing ‘simple’ mobility?
Mobility Worldwide MO-Columbia Update 9/12/17

Barbara and I often describe our lives as being privileged, and one of those privileges has been to have our lives entwined with those of the Miner family, of Marshfield, MO.

In 1978 the pastor of the United Methodist Church at Marshfield, MO, called me to say, “There is a man here in Marshfield that is doing something that I think you need to know about.” I went to Marshfield and walked into the bustling and busy home of Earl and Leona Miner and a house full of teenagers. The house had been especially built for their family and foster children. It did not take long for me to know that “their heart was as my heart,” so we joined hands and hearts from that day forward.

Earl was a professional product designer, and did magic with steel and tin. A missionary from Zimbabwe had come to Springfield, and as he spoke he mentioned the need for simple transportation for the lay preachers.

That caught Earl’s attention. He went home and designed and developed the TRAG (TRansportation AGriculture). This was a three-wheeled vehicle with an 8 hp. engine mounted over the front drive wheel. Earl designed and built various kinds of trailers for it – as an ambulance, as a little truck, as a taxi, as a tanker for water, etc. He even made pontoons for it. My office, the Office of Creative Ministries, adopted the project and we sent several hundred to various overseas mission sites.

Then, when there was a need for mobility for persons whose legs were either gone or did not function, it was natural that I would again call upon the genius of Earl Miner. He put heart and soul into the project, and most of you readers know the rest of the Mobility Worldwide story. Earl’s willingness to give of his skills, time, energy and resources has meant that tens of thousands have risen from crawling upon the ground and into a life of hope, pride, dignity, comfort, and productivity.

In the meantime, Earl’s family went out into life and, each in his or her own way, have carried forth the spirit of Leona and Earl, unselfish service to those in need. A son, Rodney, gave major assistance to the project by sharing in the drive unit development of the Mobility Cart, and by building many of the first units.

And, in the meantime, only a few weeks ago, Leona quietly slipped away from this life.

A couple of years or more ago Earl developed the dreaded Alzheimer’s disease and is in a retirement home in Lebanon, MO. A daughter, Kathleen, visited recently and sent this photo:

I suggest that you readers who appreciate Mobility Worldwide (PET) so much shower Earl with cards, and perhaps also send appreciation notes to the family.
Earl’s address: Earl Miner, Christian H&R, 596 Morton Rd., Lebanon, MO, 65530.
For the family, 141 Hillside Dr., Marshfield, MO 65706.
Send a photo of your Mobility Worldwide shop or other items for his appreciation.

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“Memory is the sublime miracle of the human mind.” – Elias Cannetti
Mel West, Director Emeritus
DBA Mobility Worldwide MO – Columbia