MILLCREEK TWP, Erie County — A Brady Township man died Wednesday hours after being pulled from a turbulent Lake Erie.

Ralph Miller, 66, had been swimming with his two teenaged granddaughters near an area called Sara’s Campground shortly before 10 a.m., according to Millcreek Township Police Capt. Michael Tesone.

“The water was pretty rough,” Tesone said. “Then the tide turned for the worse.”

One of the granddaughters swam to the shore safely and ran to get help for her sister and grandfather who were struggling, Tesone said.

The granddaughter returned with a two good Samaritans: A 17-year-old boy and a 41-year-old woman. By then, the girl’s sister had anchored herself safely above water on a breakwater in the lake, Tesone said.

The girl who was on the breakwater and the 41-year-old woman were able to get a hold of Miller, who had submerged. They pulled him to shore where the woman did CPR on Miller until an ambulance arrived and took him to UPMC Hamot.

The Erie County coroner’s office said Miller died at 8:32 p.m.

Ellen Miller, Ralph Miller’s sister-in-law, said that he and his granddaughters were at the lake on vacation before the girls went to college. She said that it was a trip they regularly made.

She said that Miller and his granddaughters were familiar with that part of the lake and that Miller was an excellent swimmer.

He retired in 2011 from APT Technologies in Zelienople.