Graveside services with full military honors for 43-year-old Ryan Drew Miles, of Oak Grove, will be 10 AM Wednesday at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West.
Maddux-Fuqua-Hinton Funeral Home is charge of arrangements.
Miles died Tuesday, June 13, 2023. The family chose cremation.
The life of a man is but a breath, and the space between birth and death is riddled with both joy and pain.
The Lord weaves every man’s life as a precious tapestry that points back to himself, a work of art that takes your breath away. The tapestry he weaved for Ryan Drew Miles was one of such beauty that only He could have weaved it so.
Ryan’s life was filled with grace, mercy, redemption, sacrifice, humility and joy. He was a man who loved God, his family and his country.
Miles was born February 25, 1980, in Vero Beach, Florida, to his late parents Raymond “Ray” Miles and Kathleen “Kathy” Leigh.
Despite his troubled childhood and challenges in his adolescence he learned many difficult lessons – lessons which would affect the trajectory of his life. He was a natural-born leader and always had a heart for children.
As a young man he mentored his younger brother, Adam; as an adult he led many children’s programs and under his tutelage countless boys were taught what it meant to be a man.
His legacy truly grew exponentially when he recommitted his life to Christ and walked alongside his w ife sowing seeds everywhere they went.
He not only gave to his immediate family, but to his country. He served in the 173rd Airborne Brigade with the United States Army and did three tours serving his nation in Iraq, Afghanistan and Poland. Ryan’s military career and life exemplified the Army’s values of loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage.
Yet his greatest contributions were not in the many accolades the world knew but it was in every small act of kindness he gave anyone he encountered. However, nothing compared to the way he loved his family.
He provided, cherished and led his wife and sons in a way that only a man after God’s own heart could do. He had strong love for Katie even after 16 years of marriage. Or the way he told his sons how much he loved them in both words and deeds.
Ultimately discipling their hearts and pointing them to his Lord, Jesus Christ. Ryan’s life embodied the Gospel and though his mark is seared in the hearts and minds of countless lives, Ryan’s pilgrimage ended pointing to Christ.
The word of God tells us that we would recognize his children by the fruit of their lives and that [his] “sheep hear [his] voice, and he [would] know them, and they follow [him]. — John 10:27.
Ryan entered the gates of heaven rejoicing in His savior and for that we rejoice. We weep because his absence leaves us longing for home too. Let Ryan’s life remind each of us that our greatest aim in life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
“And he said, The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” — Job 1:21 ESV
