Funeral services for Leo T. Miles, age 87, of Bison, SD will be at 1:30 p.m. on Friday, September 5th, at the First Presbyterian Church in Bison. CLP Florence Hoff will officiate with burial to follow at the Chance Cemetery, rural Meadow, SD. A family service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Friday, September 5th, at the church in Bison. Visitation will be from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm on Thursday, September 4th at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon with the family present from 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm and one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday.


Leo T. Miles was born July 28, 1921 to Arthur and Emma (Obst) Miles on the ranch in southwest Perkins County in Highland Township. At the age of five, he learned to milk cows and ride horseback. When he was a young boy, he remembers going from the ranch in a team of horses and wagon, 25 miles to his Grandma's house for Christmas and sometimes Thanksgiving. The family moved to Chance, SD in 1927 where he attended school. He herded cows every summer for his uncle, George Obst till he was thirteen years old.


He graduated from the 8th grade in 1935 and attended high school in Bison and graduated from Lemmon High School in 1939. Following his graduation, he worked for different ranchers in the Chance area. Leo attended Black Hills Teaching College where he received a Teaching Certificate and taught school in 1941-1942. He then worked as a ranch hand for three years and drove truck. He returned to teaching in 1945 and continued teaching until 1950.


In December of 1950 he was united in marriage to Doris Broesamle. They were the proud parents of three children; Donald, Nancy and William. They purchased a farm and together worked the land until 1959 when Leo went to work for Grand Electric Cooperative as a Warehouse Material Clerk. He held that position he held for the next 25 years finally retiring in 1984. In his spare time Leo, along with his family farmed the land he bought when he and Doris were married. After his retirement, he helped Larry Veal on his ranch until 2001. His wife Doris passed away in 1997.


Leo loved playing cards, especially pinochle, doing crossword puzzles, gardening, and had his own garden until just a few years ago.


Leo passed away on Tuesday evening, September 2nd, 2008 at the West River Regional Medical Center in Hettinger, ND.


Grateful for having shared in his life are his daughter, Nancy Miles, Bison, SD; son, Bill (Karol) Miles, Spearfish, SD; daughter-in-law, Sara Miles, Spearfish, SD; five grandchildren, Jim (Jessica) Miles, Adam (Michele) Miles, Thomas, Travis and Tiffany Miles, all of Spearfish, SD; two great-grandchildren, Natalie and Brandt Miles, of Spearfish, SD; brother-in-law, Frank Broesamle, of Mobridge, SD; two sisters, Donna (Marvin) Bertsch, of McIntosh, SD and Bonnie (John) Deibert, of Spearish, SD; a special friend, Dorothy Short, of Sturgis, SD and numerous nieces and nephews.


Leo was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Doris; son, Donald; two sisters and four brothers.


A memorial has been established to the Bison First Presbyterian Church, the Bison Ambulance and Dakota Prairie Helping Hands.