Murray Thomas Miles Jr

View Funeral WebcastMurray Thomas Miles, Jr., 87, retired Director of Communications of Tennessee Farm Bureau, died Wednesday, September 13, 2017 in Columbia. A Memorial Service will be conducted Sunday at 2:00 P.M. at First Presbyterian Church. The family will visit with friends after the service in the Fellowship Hall of the Church. Oakes & Nichols Funeral Directors are assisting the family with arrangements. Born in Wilson County and reared in Rutherford County, he was the son of the late Murray Thomas Miles and the late Ernestine White Miles. He was educated at Walter Hill School and Murfreesboro Central High School, where he graduated in 1948. He was named Best All-Round Student and President of the Student Council his senior year. Following his 1952 graduation from the University of Tennessee, he served two years in the U. S. Army. Mr. Miles came to Columbia in 1955 when he joined the staff of Tennessee Farm Bureau, where he worked for forty years and retired as Director of Communications. At the Farm Bureau, he produced a daily radio program, "Accent Agriculture" for the Tennessee Radio Network, and wrote a weekly newspaper column, "For Miles Around". Beginning in 1964 and continuing until his retirement, he hosted a farm oriented weekly television program, "Farm Digest" on WSMV in Nashville. Following his retirement from Farm Bureau in 1995, he published "From The Ground Up", a history of the Tennessee Farm Bureau Federation. He served as state 4-H Council President in 1949 and was named a national 4-H Alumni winner in 1972. He also served as a board member and President of the Tennessee 4-H Foundation. He received the honorary American Farmer degree from the Future Farmers of America. He served as the chairman of the Board of Camp Woodlee, 4-H and Young Farmers and Homemakers camp, for fifteen years.He loved to sing and led group singing for Kiwanis, 4-H, and Farm Bureau meetings. He was the emcee and song leader for the American Farm Bureau's annual meeting for thirteen years.He was a member of the Kiwanis Club of Columbia for 58 years, where he served as President and Lt. Governor and was a Hixson Fellow. He served as the president of the Columbia Central High Band Boosters, Maury County U.T. Alumni Chapter, and Maury County United Way. He served on the Maury County Red Cross Chapter board and was a member of the University of Tennessee Alumni Board of Governors.He was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, where he served as a deacon and elder and was a 60-plus year member of the Chancel Choir.In 1953, he married the former Mary Jane Knox of Madison, Tennessee, who survives. He is also survived by four daughters: Nancy (Mike) Berry of Johnson City; Patsy (Mark) Bridges of Culleoka, Mary Brainerd of Brentwood, and Sally (Tony) Boals of Signal Mountain, TN; ten grandchildren: Julie (Charles) Thomas, Franklin; Leslie (Brent) Steele, Asheville, NC; John and Will Bridges; Anna and Ben Brainerd; and Thomas, Janie, Sara Beck, and Annie Boals; three great-granddaughters, Eva and Caroline Thomas and Abigail Steele; sister, Ernestine (Pal) Hawkins of Old Hickory; brother, Kenneth (Janet) Miles of Spring Hill, and several nieces and nephews. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by sisters, June Mazilee Miles, Nena Lou Bagwell, and Sara White Martin. Honorary pallbearers will be elders, deacons, and the Chancel Choir of First Presbyterian Church, members of the Kiwanis Club of Columbia, staff of the Tennessee Farm Bureau, and friends of Camp Woodlee. The family requests memorials to First Presbyterian Church, 801 South High Street, Columbia, TN 38401, Tennessee 4-H Club Foundation at www.tn4hfoundation.org, Camp Woodlee Memorial Youth Camp or the Tennessee Foundation for Agriculture in Classroom, c/o Teresa Ragsdale, P. O. Box 313, Columbia, TN 38402. Condolences may be extended online at www.oakesandnichols.com.