Kyle Miller died on Jan. 16, 2010.

He was 39 years old and left behind a pair of young boys.

Hundreds of people packed a church in Lakewood to pay their respects to this former probation officer of the 9th Judicial District on Jan. 21.

To say that it was a life taken too soon is a cliché.

Kyle Miller was never a cliché.

Many people in Glenwood Springs may not recognize the name.

The hundreds of family, friends and former co-workers who came to bid farewell to Miller, showed what kind of impact he made in his short life.

But even with the hundreds who wept, remembered, reflected and agonized over the memories Kyle Miller left behind, it doesn't tell the entire story of the kind of impact he had on some in Garfield and Pitkin counties.

A short life, but Miller's influence will live on.

Miller's death brings a haunting close to a legacy left by three men, who through their vision, dedication and passion changed lives. Many men and women have found their way back to the right path, and out of dark times in their lives thanks to the 9th Judicial District's Ray Combest Drug Court.

Saying thanks

Among a number of people who traveled over the mountain passes to say goodbye to Miller was a 47-year-old Glenwood Springs man who is a far different man today than he was when he first met Miller. Dressed in a brown suit with casual shoes, Louie Girardot stood with his head bowed at the final resting place of the man he gives so much credit to for helping him find his way to sobriety and success seven years ago.

“I wouldn't have missed this,” he said flatly about coming to Miller's funeral. “It's hard to quantify the difference Kyle made in my life. The one thing I reflected on was when I first met Kyle in the fall of 2002, I was emotionally an adolescent, very emotionally immature. Even though I am 47 years old at this point, he acted like a father figure to me then.”

That's the powerful influence that Miller had on many of his clients.

Back in the early 2000s, Girardot admits that drugs were a driving force in his life. He was arrested on charges of prescription drug forgery and possession of methamphetamine. His future looked bleak.

But he was given a second chance. That's the potent foundation of drug court.

It was Miller who hatched and nurtured the idea to bring drug court to the 9th Judicial District.

The three men who made drug court a reality for the district — Judge T. Peter Craven, 65, former chief probation officer Ray Combest, 54, and Miller have all died over the last half decade.

Girardot also attended Craven's funeral.

Second chances

Following the post-funeral service lunch, Girardot smiled as he remembered Miller and what he meant to him.

“I was very broken when I showed up on Kyle's doorstep,” he said. “Yeah,” he said with a nod, shifting his eyes downward, “[drug court] pretty much taught me how to live again.”

Then he lifts his eyes and smiles. There wasn't a second thought about making the 320-mile plus round trip to attend Miller's service. He knew he had to say goodbye. He wanted to make the trip to say thanks.

As Miller's former client and a successful graduate of drug court, Girardot was given a precious second chance, and for that, he will always be thankful. As will his wife Tammy and their three children — Raine, 18, Simone, 21, and 23-year-old Brendan.

Girardot has a successful computer repair business in the Roaring Fork Valley, and is also a popular, well-known musician. He's the former front man of Louie and the Lizards and now plays with Steve Skinner's Stimulus Package. As someone who got a second chance and ran with it, Girardot will never pass up an opportunity to praise the program that handed him a second chance.

And that praise begins with the man who helped start it.

“I can probably make a list of about 20 people who have really made a big difference in my life, and Kyle makes that list. He makes the top 5 on my list,” Girardot said with a smile, remembering his friend, former probation officer and father figure.

Based on Miller's work getting drug court started, Combest nominated Miller for the state's Probation Officer of the Year. In 2005, Miller received that honor.

Girardot is a talking endorsement of the drug court program and like the pebble tossed into the pond, he's proud to be part of the ripple effect of the program that has given many a second chance.

Members of the 9th Judicial District Probation Department held a small ceremony on Jan. 29 to honor Miller and his work.

Probation officer Terry Shanahan, who is now in charge of the 9th Judicial District Drug Court, spoke to more than 50 people in attendance — most of them current drug court clients.

“Many of you never met Kyle Miller, but his connection to you is profound,” he said. “[Drug court] is a tremendous opportunity to transform your lives. That's what [Miller] would have wanted for you.”

There can be no stronger message than one that comes from success. Girardot eagerly stepped in front of the group to provide a commanding message.

He spoke of how Miller worked with him during his 14 months of probation. One message during that time still rings loudly for Girardot.

“Kyle showed me that I was a good person with thinking errors. That was so important because I never really thought of myself as a good person because of drugs. He taught me that I am a good person.”

Girardot's honesty is raw and real, and he's unabashed in saying that drug court is all about giving second chances to people who need and deserve them.

“Drug court is very important, especially if you consider that an overwhelming number of people are in the correctional system because of drug and alcohol issues,” he said. “Drug court is a way of dealing with this problem, and it's a way of nipping it in the bud before those people move on to become statistics in the correctional system.”

A legacy that is Drug Court

As one of the shining examples of second chance triumph, Girardot gives a glowing review of the program. Yes, he gives Miller much of the credit for giving him the tools to succeed, but he knows that success or failure was ultimately up to him. Simply put, he says the key to sobriety and the key to not returning to criminal behavior was that he had to do it for himself.

“As I went through the program, I learned and got to the point that I was doing all the right things for the right reasons — and that was for myself and for my family.”

But there is no doubt why Miller is on Girardot's top 5 list, and there's a reason why Miller's work with drug court will remain such a well-earned legacy.

“Drug court has helped a lot of people in our valley, and if it weren't for a series of events that [Miler] was instrumental in, I don't think that program would exist,” Girardot said.

Shanahan also points first to Miller, then to Craven and Combest for the success of the district's drug court program.

“There are not a lot of drug courts nationwide and the reason is because it's so difficult to get it going, and these guys did a phenomenal job. So there's a tremendous legacy that's been left to me,” he said.

For Shanahan, drug court is now a full-time job in which he logs more than 50 hours a week between the courts in Glenwood Springs and Aspen.

One fact that isn't lost on Shanahan is that the three men who helped start and get the program going, are now all gone.

“I personally feel a lot of responsibility to carry on in a way that's as powerful and impactful as the program has been.”

Shanahan was one of several members of the 9th Judicial District Probation Department at Miller's service. Members of the 5th Judicial District where Miller was working at the time of his death also attended.

The common theme for people when they spoke of Miller was his ability to connect with people.

Shanahan says that like Girardot, many of the people who have been helped by drug court, have never forgotten why they got that second chance.

“A lot of people stay in touch, a lot of them still come back and talk about Kyle,” Shanahan said.

There's no way to fake passion, and for Miller, drug court was his passion while at the 9th.

“He had such a tremendous influence on people because of who he was, and that he was genuine and authentic, and people knew that from their first meeting with him,” Shanahan said.

It was Miller's unique style that stayed with people he met.

“He really was one of a kind,” Shanahan said with a fond smile.

Girardot looks back at the broken man who walked into Kyle Miller's office in 2002 hoping for a second chance, looking for a way to get his life back on track.

“If I hadn't crossed paths with Kyle Miller, I'm not sure where I would be today,” he said.

Today he can look in the mirror and see the successful and sober computer repair guy, musician and family man.

The only thing left for Girardot and many others who were touched by Miller's life, is to say thanks.

Miller was a man who made a difference in people's lives.

Kyle Miller makes a lot of people's top 5 list.