Dan
Dan Miles
d. September 21, 2016
Dan Miles of Los Alamos passed away at age 95 on September 21, 2016. Born in Akron, Ohio, he earned a Master’s Degree in Geology at Univ. of Pittsburgh in 1948. He served in the First Cavalry Division in WWII, spending most of his time in the Philippines. Upon his return he married Lois Wilson and they had four daughters.
Dan was a Petroleum geologist for Gulf Oil and L.L.& E., as well as an independent geologist around Texas and New Mexico. He moved to Los Alamos in 1963 where jointly with John Barnett and Mark McMahon he started the Los Alamos Monitor. He also owned and managed the Miles Building in downtown Los Alamos. He worked for the Zia Company in materials testing, and later for Los Alamos National Lab as a geologist on their geothermal drilling project at Fenton Hill. He continued swimming all his life, including swimming on one of the oldest relay teams to swim the English Channel. He swam in multiple Senior Olympics, setting quite a few records for his age group. On his 90th birthday, Dan swam 90 laps of the pool in Los Alamos. He held a Life Master ranking in Duplicate Bridge and was an avid golfer and gin player.
Dan attributed his long life to eating ice cream at least once a day. He was preceded in death by his second and third wives, Shirley Pecarich Miles and Ruth Foreman Miles, and by his sister Marian (Mickey) Miles Billings. He is survived by his four loving daughters Vicki Yuen, Ellen Ligon, Judy Tudor, and Beki Welsch. He is also survived by numerous grandchildren, great-grand-children and sons-in-law Darrel Yuen, Ross Ligon and Steve Tudor. Services will be held on Tues., Sept. 27 at 1 PM at United Church of Los Alamos, 2525 Canyon Rd, Los Alamos, NM 87544. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service or American Red Cross. The family of Dan Miles has entrusted the care of their loved one to the DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Espanola Valley. 505-747-7477-www.devargafuneral.com
Dan was a Petroleum geologist for Gulf Oil and L.L.& E., as well as an independent geologist around Texas and New Mexico. He moved to Los Alamos in 1963 where jointly with John Barnett and Mark McMahon he started the Los Alamos Monitor. He also owned and managed the Miles Building in downtown Los Alamos. He worked for the Zia Company in materials testing, and later for Los Alamos National Lab as a geologist on their geothermal drilling project at Fenton Hill. He continued swimming all his life, including swimming on one of the oldest relay teams to swim the English Channel. He swam in multiple Senior Olympics, setting quite a few records for his age group. On his 90th birthday, Dan swam 90 laps of the pool in Los Alamos. He held a Life Master ranking in Duplicate Bridge and was an avid golfer and gin player.
Dan attributed his long life to eating ice cream at least once a day. He was preceded in death by his second and third wives, Shirley Pecarich Miles and Ruth Foreman Miles, and by his sister Marian (Mickey) Miles Billings. He is survived by his four loving daughters Vicki Yuen, Ellen Ligon, Judy Tudor, and Beki Welsch. He is also survived by numerous grandchildren, great-grand-children and sons-in-law Darrel Yuen, Ross Ligon and Steve Tudor. Services will be held on Tues., Sept. 27 at 1 PM at United Church of Los Alamos, 2525 Canyon Rd, Los Alamos, NM 87544. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service or American Red Cross. The family of Dan Miles has entrusted the care of their loved one to the DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Espanola Valley. 505-747-7477-www.devargafuneral.com
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