Miles Loren Shipp, 88, was born in Germantown, Indiana. He was the son of William Jackson and Lidia Alcestis "Essie" Neal Shipp.

He married Alpha Leona "Patricia" Brown in 1943 and she preceded him in death on September 17, 1957. They had one son, Miles L. Shipp, and one daughter, Leona M. Stieglitz. He married Della Pine Kinney on May 28, 1965. He has two stepsons, John H. "Buddy" Kinney and Fred D. Kinney. He had one granddaughter, 10 step-grandchildren, two great-grandchildren and 17 step-great-grandchildren. Two brothers and five sisters preceded him in death.

Miles attended Arsenal Technical High School in Indianapolis, leaving school two weeks before graduation in 1932 during the Great Depression. He was a member of the US Naval Reserves until they found out he was only 17 years old. His first job was as a wallpaper hanger. From 1941 until 1943, he worked for the Pamasco Trucking Company in Evansville as a rigger, doing heavy hauling and moving of machinery.

When World War 2 broke out, he joined the US Army on November 27, 1943, serving as a Technician Fifth Grade in Company C, 723rd Railway Operation Battalion in the European Theater, mostly Germany. He inspected railway freight cars for defects, rebuilt railroad cars, did carpenter work and mechanical repair work and did riveting and painting. He was discharged January 7, 1946.

In 1946, Miles became a milkman at Borden Dairy, working his way up to be a supervisor of sales (or a "skipper"). When he first became a milkman, the dairy used horse-drawn trucks. He retired in 1976 after 30 years of service.

Miles always kept busy. He enjoyed working with wood, but lost his front teeth when a piece of wood flipped out of a circular saw. He was quite a mechanic. He built a quarter-midget racecar for his son to race. He was a great teacher and taught his children the details of whatever project he was working on. One of his greatest joys was fishing. He spent a month or more every November in Vero Beach and Fort Pierce, Hs last trip to Florida was in December of 2001. He made fishing poles for all of his children and grandchildren.

Miles led a full, productive life until health problems slowed him down. He smoked most of his life and later developed breathing and circulation problems. Gangrene set in and his left leg was amputated January 3, 2002. Another operation increased the circulation in his right leg, but he later got pneumonia. A spot on his lung was discovered and diagnosed to be lung cancer.

He was greatly loved by his family, and he is greatly missed.