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Gary Miles, 57
Gary R. Miles, 57, formerly of Mountain Home, died Wednesday, Aug. 29, 2007, at his home in Nine Mile Falls, Wash., of natural causes.
A memorial service will be held at Rost Funeral Home, McMurtrey Chapel at 4 p.m. today, Wednesday, Sept. 5, in Mountain Home. A reception will be held at the Christian and Baptist Church following the memorial service.
Gary was born in Wallace on Feb. 6, 1950, to Scott and Cerise Miles. He grew up in the Silver Valley, and graduated from Wallace High School in 1968.
Gary met his wife of 39 years, Linda Miles (Cattanach), when he was a child, and they started dating when he was 16. They married on Nov. 14, 1967.
After graduating from high school, Gary attended and graduated from North Idaho College in 1970 and Boise State College in 1972. He later received his masters from the University of Maryland.
Gary and Linda started a family at a young age. They had a son, Todd, in 1968, and a daughter, Brooke, in 1971. "Gary was a wonderful husband and father and was devoted to his family. He had a dry sense of humor and loved to make them laugh, usually at the expense of Linda and Brooke," his family said.
Soon after he graduated from Boise State University Gary and his family moved to Mountain Home where he taught history and geography at Mountain Home Air Force Base Junior High until 1990. While in Mountain Home he also coached football, wrestling, girls' basketball and boys JV baseball during his career. He was a member of the Mountain Home varsity football staff in the late 1980s, helping the Tigers to a runner-up finish in the 1987 state football playoffs.
While serving as the freshman lightweight coach in the late '70s and early '80s his teams were dominant in league play.
While in Mountain Home Gary spent much of the '70s and '80s competing in softball for teams such as The Hub, Sunset Bar and Grindstone Butte where he was known as a speedy leadoff hitter who liked to hit to right field, and an excellent outfielder, his family said.
After his two children graduated from high school, Gary and Linda took the opportunity of a lifetime, a chance to work overseas and see the world.
They moved to England where they worked at a number of Air Force Bases. Gary taught and coached football and soccer at Woodbridge High School where his teams won a number of European Championships. After leaving RAF Woodbridge, Gary also worked at RAF Alconbury, RAF Feltwell and London Central.
During his teaching career Gary was heralded by many of his students as "their favorite teacher," his family said, adding that "he loved working with students and had many stories about those years to share."
Gary retired from the Department of Defense Dependant Schools in May 2007 and moved with Linda to Nine Mile Falls, Wash. Gary was looking forward to being back in the states and spending more time with his grandchildren, whom he adored, his family said.
"He was a treasured husband, father, grandfather, brother and uncle," his family said.
Gary is survived by: his wife of 39 years, Linda; his two children, Brooke, and her husband, Gene Carpenter, of Mountain Home, and Todd and his wife, Staci Miles, of Boise; three grandchildren; a brother, Bob, and his wife, Linda Miles, of Pflugerville, Texas; three sisters, Lu Nearing of Kingston, Idaho, Dorothy Blankartz and her husband, Ron, and Mary Jane Rodriguez of Port Hueneme, Calif., and two half brothers, Larry and James Brown.
He was preceded in death by both parents, two infant brothers and one sister.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be sent to the Mountain Home High School Wrestling Program, 300 S. 11th East St., Mountain Home, ID.