Obituary for Miles Priest Miles L. Priest, of New Pittsburg, went home to be with the Lord, 2 days before his birthday on Saturday, May 12th, 2018 in Akron where he was surrounded by his loving family. Miles Leroy Priest was born at home on the family farm in Chester Township to Dale and Daisy Priest on May 14, 1928. He graduated from Chester High School where he lettered in baseball and basketball.
After graduation he and ten of his classmates, along with coach Roy Bates, left on a 6500 mile trip to the west coast and back. The trip was paid for by four years of picking potatoes on a nearby farm. They traveled in a 1939 Ford, owned by Miles, and a 1937 Chevy.
The class visited many famous western parks, where they slept in cabins. At night they sat around the campfire with park rangers. They were surprised when the actors that were filming the movie “Ram Rod” showed up at their campfire.
After graduation, Miles joined the New Pittsburg Fire Department. He served as a firefighter there for over fifty years and twenty years as an EMT. When he joined the department, it consisted of only twelve large fire extinguishers stored in a shed.
Over the years his family grew to three generations of firefighters. His son was a firefighter for the City of Wooster for thirty-one years and still remains an assistant chief with New Pittsburg Fire Department. His granddaughter, Kristen, and grandson, Scott are firefighters and paramedics for the City of Wooster.
Miles also has a grandson, Matt, that volunteers as a firefighter with the New Pittsburg Fire Department. In 1950, Miles married Pauline Arnold, a Chester High School graduate. Years later, along with their children, they camped across the country many times to visit family.
Pauline passed away on their 41st wedding anniversary in 1991. In 1953, he went to work for the Ohio Central Telephone Company as a lineman. After thirty-two years, he retired from the phone company.
In 1990, he was elected as a Chester Township trustee, from which he would retire after serving four terms. Miles remarried in 1994 to Orpha Yutzy. The two spent their honeymoon on a week-long cruise in the Bahamas.
Over the years they spent much of their time going on bus tours around the country. A special trip was a 2002 train trip to visit family in California. Over the years Miles wore many hats.
He was a Red Cross volunteer for over fifty years. There he taught numerous people CPR and First Aid. He also oversaw the First Aid station at the Wayne County Fair for twenty years.
The station started there as a tent at the west side of the grandstand with a telephone operator and switchboard to make calls for fair goers. The other half of the tent had a cot for First Aid. Miles also had memories of serving during the 1969 flood, when he helped free cows trapped in barns in three feet of water and aided in recovering fatalities.
Miles was a past president for CWA local 4474. He was on the Wayne-Holmes Labor Council, where he started the food bank for families in need. He was a member of the Wayne County Trustee and Clerks Association and the Wayne County Fire and Rescue Association.
Miles was a past member of the Joint Hospital Township Board, 911 Committee, Wayne County Local Emergency Planning Committee, Medway General Assembly Board and the Wayne County Terrorism Task Force. Miles was a member of St. Peter’s Evangelical Lutheran Church from his birth and for many years following. He then was a member of Church of the Savior, and has attended the Wooster Church of the Nazarene for the past twenty plus years, where he was a faithful member.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his children, Pat (Keith) Meshew of Wooster, Pam (Ernest) Miller of Hudson, Mike (Julie Johns) Priest of New Pittsburg. Duane Yutzy of Wooster, Gary Yutzy of Wooster, Randy Yutzy of Apple Creek and LaVonne (Alan) Flickinger of Wooster; 13 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren a 1 great-great granddaughter. In addition to his parents and first wife, he is preceded in death by a daughter, Penny Rieck.
Visitation for family and friends will be this evening (Tuesday) from 6 – 8 p.m. at Wooster Church of The Nazarene, in Wooster. Services will be Wednesday, 11:00 a.m. at the church with interment to follow at Sherwood Memorial Gardens in Wooster. Custer-Glenn Funeral Home in Wooster is honored with serving the family.
Memorial contributions may be made to: New Pittsburg Fire Fighters Fund, c/o Mr. Jeff George 3311 N. Elyria Rd. , Wooster, Oh. 44691.
Words of comfort may be shared with the family at: www. custerglenn.com.
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