William “Bill” Albert Miles III
William “Bill” Albert Miles III was born on June 22, 1947, in Erie Pennsylvania to loving parents William A. Miles Jr., and Mary Jane (Raun) Miles.
Bill lived in Wattsburg, Pennsylvania until age 6 when he and his family moved to Louisville, Kentucky so his dad could work at the General Electric Appliance Park Plant.
Bill spent the majority of his childhood and early adult life in Louisville, where he enjoyed baseball, fishing, hunting, hanging out with his friends, spending time with his siblings and cousins, occasionally cutting school at Seneca High School and hitchhiking back and forth to college at Murray State University. He was a Boy Scout and Explorer Scout in Troop 340 at St. Marks United Methodist Church and was a member of the school Rifle Team.
After college, Bill joined the workforce and moved every two to three years across the Midwest in retail management for Kmart where he opened stores and trained staff. He had a successful 17-year career with Kmart and then moved to Hope Arkansas to take the position of Manager at TG&Y/McCroy’s. Bill left retail management for a position in Security at the Hope Plant of Tyson’s Foods, where he enjoyed the people, the community and those with whom he worked.
Bill was a member of the Hope Methodist Church where he was part of the Spares and Pairs Sunday School Class. He could usually be found in the 4th row during Sunday morning Service. Throughout his life, his interests included hunting, fishing, golf (although badly), competition archery, Star Trek, Bill Dance fishing shows, John Wayne westerns and many a Saturday morning Godzilla movie.
He is preceded in death by his parents William Albert Miles Jr., and Mary Jane (Raun) Miles; his grandparents Peter and Ethel Raun, and William A. (Sr.) and Gertrude Miles, as well as aunts and uncles he loved and who loved him.
He is survived by his wife, Vickie Lafferty Miles; his brother, David Lee Miles; and sister and her spouse Jane Marie (Miles) Ellis and John. His children and their spouses, Cynthia Miles Brown (Jason/“JB”), William Robert Miles (Jody) and Joseph Allen Miles and their mother Norajean Vuturo Miles. He is also survived by his bonus children and their spouses William (Billy) Bryant Lafferty (Kayla), and Doug W. Lafferty. He has grandchildren who love and will miss him dearly: Elizabeth, Emma, Mackenzie and Ella of Hope Arkansas; Willow and Granite of Rosebud Missouri; and Morghan of Louisville, Kentucky. He has two nieces, Tiffany Diane (Miles) Anderson and Lauren Michelle Ellis, both of Louisville Kentucky. He is also survived by an amazing great grandson and will be missed by cousins and family around the country.
Visitation and Services will be held Saturday, September 21st, 2024. Hope, Arkansas.
Visitation is at Brazzell Funeral Home from 10:00am – 11:00am CST.
Service will be held at the Hope Methodist Church on Highway 29 South at 3:00 pm CST with stories, celebration, pictures, and memories in the Fellowship Hall to follow.