Ralph Edward Miles was born in Pontiac, MI, but moved with his family to California before he was one year old. He grew up and went to school in Visalia in the San Joaquin Valley, where, in 1953, he graduated as his high school class valedictorian. Somewhere during those years he developed a desire to join the United States Air Force. At the same time, he was an ideal candidate for a Congressional appointment to West Point. When he reported to the Military Academy shortly after high school graduation, he had his sights firmly set on becoming an Air Force officer and jet pilot.
Ralph joined K-2 Company and went on to excel in the physical sciences. English and social studies, however, were not his forte. Unfortunately, Ralphs dreams of flying came to an end First Class year when his flight physical detected a "deviated septum," a nasal condition. But Ralph was not one to wring his hands over his disappointment, so he quickly decided on a career in the Corps of Engineers. Upon graduating, Ralph reported to the Engineer Officer Basic Course at Ft. Belvoir, VA, and then attended parachute school at Ft. Benning, GA. Ranger School followed. Ralph earned his Airborne wings without difficulty and proceeded to what he considered his most significant career triumph: he mastered the Ranger School course at a time when it snowed in the Florida camp.
Ralph reported to his first unit, the 13th Engineer Battalion, at Camp Casey, Korea, in May 1958. In February 1959, he became ill and was evacuated to Letterman Army Hospital at the Presidio of San Francisco, CA. Upon release from the hospital, he reported for duty at Ft. Ord, where one of his first duties was to build a gigantic parking lot for the 1960 Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. His assignment at Ft. Ord is what Ralph considered the most wonderful event in his life. Remembered in the 1957 Howitzer as a "connoisseur of women," he was not one to pass up the various social events held at Ft. Ord. At a dance in February 1960 (on Valentine’s Day, perchance), he met the fair Winona, a teacher at Ft. Ord’s elementary school. Ralph deftly maneuvered himself into Winona's presence and—presto—he did what he considered the best thing in his life. On 30 Jul 1960, he swept Winona off her feet in marriage.
The Corps of Engineers then saw fit to send Ralph and Winona to Ohio State University, where, in 1962, he earned a master’s degree in civil engineering. Along the way, in September 1961, daughter Cathy made the Miles family a threesome. Ralph, however, was not yet to leave the academic world. After attending the Engineer Officer’s Career Course, he won the unique distinction of being selected to attend the prestigious British School of Surveying at the Hermitage in England, where he graduated at the top of his class and qualified for membership in the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. From Great Britain he went to Germany, where he commanded the 524th Engineer Topographical Company.
By May 1966, Viet Nam was calling, so Ralph and Winona packed up their family, now consisting of Cathy and Daniel, and left for California. Ralph spent his tour in Saigon doing what was axiomatic to him, to do his "...duty to exercise [his] talents, to marry, to raise a family, and to serve [his] country; all in the most noble and honorable way possible."
In 1967, Ralph and his family reported to West Point, where Jonathan and Andrew were born in 1968 and 1970, respectively. Ralph loved to teach, and he was an outstanding instructor in the mathematics department. Of all his assignments, both military and civilian, he enjoyed teaching the most. At West Point, he excelled in the classroom, sought innovative ways to teach, and, in what he considered a special tribute, was chosen to conduct new instructor training for the department.
After three years at West Point, Ralph completed another tour in Korea and, then, as a lieutenant colonel, reported to the Office of the Chief of Engineers, Personnel and Training Division, in Washington, DC. Here he spent two years exercising his creed of choosing "the harder right instead of the easier wrong, and never to be content with a half-truth when the whole can be won."
In August 1973, he moved to Germany to command the U.S. Army’s 649th Engineer Battalion, followed by an assignment to Headquarters, U.S. Army, Europe. Then he returned to the States to work in the Office of the District Engineer, North Atlantic Division, in New York City. In the two years until his retirement in 1978, he was the deputy director of a $250,000,000 a year construction program, encompassing 15 states in the northeast United States and three overseas areas.
Upon retirement, Ralph began a four-pronged adventure which incorporated his love of family, engineering, teaching, and traveling. According to his son Andy, "throughout his life, Ralph placed a great importance on education and was a lifelong learner and teacher." In his free time, he devoured books on subjects ranging from mathematics to philosophy. He was a well loved and respected teacher, spending considerable time personalizing his instruction in the 15 years he taught in the Los Rios Community College in Sacramento, CA. His sense of humor contributed to making such subjects as mathematics and surveying lively, as well as interesting. Always his primary concern was to assist his students to learn and achieve.
He also was an ardent traveller. He relished the opportunity to take Winona, ever his constant and loving companion, and family members on worldwide excursions. Kenya, Brazil, Greece, and Russia were just a few of the countries they visited.
If engineering was Ralphs game, numbers were his passion. He thought in terms of millions of dollars as the Sacramento construction manager, for example, and hundreds in terms of projects as the supervising engineer for Pan Am World Services.
But if Ralph’s masterful deployment of numbers was one of his most characteristic qualities, numbers did not play an important role when he pursued one of his favorite pastimes: coaching youth sports. Instead of placing too much emphasis on winning, he felt it was more important that youths learn such ideals as fairness, equal treatment, self-improvement, and good sportsmanship.
Ralph joined the "Long Gray Line in Ghostly Assemblage" on 26 Dec 2001 after a hard struggle with amyloidosis. He enlisted the most respectable and optimistic medical resources to help him in his quest for recovery, which he documented in terms of numbers down to the last decimal point. But alas, the numbers were stacked against him, and so he left us all with a profound feeling of loss, but one of fun, accomplishment, professionalism, and most important, dedication in the service to his country and love of his family.
Family & REB