Mr. Miles was the eldest son of John Sr.& Elsie Theresa Henry-Miles. His primary education was at Holy Redeemer Catholic Church where he served as an Altar Server & then attended St. Peter Claver Catholic School. There he developed his baseball & basketball prowess. He entered Phillis Wheatley High School in the eleventh grade & immediately became the best all-around athlete during his stint as a Wheatley Lion. After high school graduation, John went to work at Fort Sam Houston (mechanical division). In 1939, he married Bernice Mapp. Six children were ultimately born to their union before Mrs. Miles' untimely death. In 1942, while working at Fort Sam, John was approached by the U.S. State Department personnel to attend their new air training program as an aircraft mechanic trainee at Tuskegee, Alabama (America's first black military unit ~ home of the famed Tuskegee Airmen). He accepted the offer & relocated to the Air Training School there with his wife & two sons. While attending school in Alabama, he & Bernice were blessed with the birth of another son. In 1944, John graduated from Tuskegee & returned to San Antonio where he began work at Kelly Air Force Base (AFB). After WWII, John played baseball for the Kelly AFB Bombers. One day he was seen by a major league scout who offered him a tryout with the Chicago American Giants (a segregated Negro Major League team). John was selected by & then joined the team. In an interview, Mr. Miles recollected he was once told by the Giants' manager, Candy Jim Taylor, "I hit a baseball harder than a mule kicks. That's what he told me one day. That's how the [nick]name [Mule] stuck." In 1949, his family was yet blessed with yet another son & John decided he could best serve his family by being with them as the boys grew up. So, he gave up his professional baseball career (playing for the American Giants, 1946-49 seasons) for his family. Afterwards, he played with the Laredo Apaches in the Texas League & then formed his own San Antonio semi-pro baseball team, the Miles Humble Oilers. In 1959, John & Bernice were once more blessed with their only daughter. Years later, in 1966, yet another son was born to them. Mr. Miles retired from Kelly in 1970 after 40 years in Civil Service. His golden years were filled with constant attendance to mass at Holy Redeemer Church. He spent time representing the Negro Baseball League Players Association. He was a wedding photographer & served as a Bexar County Deputy Sheriff. John enjoyed spending time with his grandchildren & great grands as well as his extended family. He was inducted into the Major League Baseball Players Association Negro League, the Texas Black Sports Hall of Fame, the San Antonio Sports Hall of Fame (2003) & received an invitation to Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration in 2009 for Tuskegee Airmen. Mr. Miles received many more awards, too numerous to mention. He was a distinguished member of the Knights of St. Peter Claver. Mr. Miles was preceded in death by his parents John & Elsie Miles, Sr.; brothers, Joseph & Melvin Miles; wife, Bernice; sons, Winston, John III & Timothy Miles. He is survived by his second wife Minnie Miles (age 102); brother, Winfred Miles; sons, Kenneth Jane) & Ralph (Theresa) Miles; & a daughter, Caroline Shaw (Jesse). He is also mourned by his many grandchildren & great grandchildren, friends, family & the sports world.