Family, friends and community members gathered Saturday to reflect on the lives of Bruce A. “Buddy” Miller Jr. and his son, Bruce Alan Miller.

On Jan. 21, Miller, 37, and his son, Bruce Alan, 10, were killed in a house fire and explosion at a home on Blue Mountain Drive in Danielsville. Authorities are still not sure what caused the fire.

The celebration of lives, which was held at Bethany Wesleyan Church, was filled with song, photos and a sermon. Family members and friends also used the time to share memories and stories of the beloved father and son.

Miller was known for his bright smile and cunning wit, a reputation upheld in the memories of his family and friends, as Stevan Sheets, Miller’s first cousin, pointed out during Saturday’s memorial.

“As I recall my childhood memories of me and (Miller) I always remember knowing that Brucie was much more street smart than I was,” Sheets said. “My sister said publicly that he was the ‘cool’ kid.”

But that image of a clever companion, Sheets recalled, was briefly shaken one summer when Miller and his sister, Lori, came to visit Sheets’ family at a borrowed cottage on the Delaware Bay.

Upon their cousins’ arrival, Sheets and the other children did the only thing appropriate when you’re a kid and it’s summer vacation, they plunged into the nearest body of water.

“I noticed one particular day, the first they were with us, that Brucie wouldn’t jump into the water with us,” Sheets said. “It struck me quite odd. Brucie was street smart. He was fearless. He couldn’t not do anything.

“I remember getting out of the water and walking up to him to ask what might be the matter,” Sheets continued. “He almost instantly pointed there, at the edge of where the water meets the sand, at the white-yellowish foam being deposited there by the water, and without hesitation, he said ‘there’s no way I’m getting in that water with that whale sperm.’ ”

And even though he and his son were being mourned, in true Miller fashion, his words managed to break the tension caused by grief, and the entire crowd fell into a fit of laughter.

Jim McCloud shared memories about the young Bruce Alan. A family therapist, McCloud worked with Bruce Alan’s stepbrother.

“Bruce often would join us many times,” McCloud said. “That actually made our sessions go a lot better.”

In his short time knowing Bruce Alan, McCloud said, he befriended a creative, quick and caring kid, with a love of three-way checkers, a game of their own design, and mad libs.

“In many ways, Bruce was a typical 10-year-old, but in other ways, he was like an 80-year-old,” McCloud said.

Being a peacemaker, McCloud said, Bruce Alan settled others’ disputes with steady resolve, carried their burdens as if they were weights on his own shoulders and cared for others’ contentment just as much as his own.

“I noticed that, over the two years I got to know Bruce, that he loved it when everybody else was having a great time,” McCloud said. “He was joyful when you were joyful.”

Mike Generose, Miller’s brother-in-law and Bruce Alan’s uncle, spoke about his first-time meeting Miller. Miller was a skeptical, overprotective older brother.

But over time, their relationship grew. Generose became a part of the family.

“Time gave us all these memories, and time has given us the ability to smile, and time has given us the gift of togetherness,” Generose said.

“Jackie Robinson said that a life is meaningless — unimportant — except for the impact it has on other lives. And I would guarantee these two young men had no idea, in (Miller’s) 37 years and (Bruce Alan’s) 10 years, the impact they’ve had.”