Poppa Gar, restaurateur to the movers and shakers, dies at 92

Aaron Clemens

Monday, June 5, 2000 | 11:44 a.m.

For 33 years Poppa Gar's Restaurant could be counted on for a good breakfast, high-powered clientele and a welcoming ambience.

John Garland Miner Sr., the proprietor affectionately known as "Poppa Gar," regularly served local politicians whose autographed photographs hung among the heads of stuffed game animals on the walls of the diner at 1624 W. Oakey Blvd.

Miner, who closed the diner in 1998, died Thursday at a local hospital. He was 92.

"He was supportive of those people running for office or officeholders, but he kept his place warm and friendly and made sure everyone was welcome," Assemblywoman Vonne Chowning, D-North Las Vegas, said today. Cement masons intermingled with those in suit and tie going to an interview with the governor, she said.

Poppa Gar's front counter set a scene for the 1987 movie "Heat" starring Burt Reynolds. Former President George Bush and his Secret Service agents came in for a meal led by former Bush adviser Sig Rogich, current president of Rogich Communications.

"Bush loved it," Rogich said. "He said it was reminiscent of the little places he liked in Maine and Houston."

Rogich knew the Miner family since he was in grade school with John Garland Miner Jr. The restaurant was not only a terrific gathering place, but the food was good too, he said.

"I enjoyed serving people every day and cooking meals for them," Miner told the Sun in 1998 after the restaurant closed. "I would tell my customers thanks for all the wonderful friendships. I enjoyed every minute of it."

"Gar himself was a fixture. He was well known and well liked," Rogich said.

Miner closed the restaurant after seeing its business dwindle. Former patrons had begun to grab a bite to eat in the growing suburbs or at competing restaurants. For many, the restaurant's longtime location was not as accessible.

The closure was the end of an era for Miner -- who cooked in the restaurant until the late 1980s -- his employees and the restaurant's regulars, including the town's movers and shakers who met in the spacious booths.

"It's left a real void," Chowning said. "Since then, there hasn't been anyplace like it."

Miner was born July 30, 1907, in Ronda, N.C., and moved to Las Vegas in 1939. In the 1940s he and the late Bob Baskin, a former city councilman and county commissioner, teamed up in the restaurant business. In 1965 Miner opened Poppa Gar's.

His son, John Garland Miner Jr., said his father worked two jobs after he was orphaned at age 12 but kept going until he turned 90. Although Miner Sr. worked hard, he made time to spend with his family, his son said.

"He had a real passion for hunting and fishing," Miner said today. "He went into debt to spoil myself and my sister."

In addition to his son, Miner is survived by his wife, Alma Ruth Miner of Las Vegas; two daughters, Darlene Ruth Vigil of Las Vegas and Jean Rupprecht of New York; 10 grandchildren; and seven great grandchildren.

A graveside service was held Saturday. Arrangements were handled by Palm Mortuary, 7400 W. Cheyenne Ave.