Jan. 15, 2004

(Dallas) - Dallas oil magnate and World War II pilot Ellison Miles had achieved national recognition as one of the leading contributors of community colleges through his multi-million-dollar contributions to the Dallas County College District Foundation. Sadly, the foundation now will bid farewell to its biggest benefactor and long-time friend following his death last week.

The DCCCD Foundation will host a memorial celebration in Mr. Miles' honor to remember his accomplishments as a philanthropist, donor, veteran and friend on Tues., Feb. 12, at Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch. The ceremony commemorating Mr. Miles' life will begin at 10 a.m. at the Ellison Miles Geotechnology Institute on Brookhaven's campus.

Mr. Miles, who passed away on Jan. 8 from heart failure, was age 85. His funeral was held on Jan. 11 at the First Baptist Church in Liberty, Texas, where he grew up. He was laid to rest with a military honor guard at Fairlawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Liberty.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the DCCCD Foundation, 701 Elm St., Suite 700, Dallas TX 75202.

Until his death, Mr. Miles served as president of his Dallas-based company, Miles Production Company, which continues to drill wells in Jack County.

"Dallas lost a good man in Ellison Miles," said Robert L. Thornton III, chairman of the DCCCD Foundation. "Ellison always believed in our community colleges and in our students. He had a deep interest in DCCCD and in where we were going in the future. That is why he helped launch the first geotechnology institute of its kind in Texas and gave generously to support our students through scholarships. He was indeed a champion of this community, and he will be dearly missed by many."

Mr. Miles' individual contributions to DCCCD for the support of capital improvements and student scholarships have been unprecedented nationally at the community college level. He donated $3.5 million to the DCCCD Foundation to fund the construction of the Miles Institute at Brookhaven. The 20,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, which opened in January 2001, is one of only four geotechnology training centers in the country.

Aside from his bricks-and-mortar contributions, Mr. Miles was DCCCD's leading supporter of student scholarships. He was a legacy donor for DCCCD's Rising Star program, contributing more than $1 million. Introduced in 1999, the nationally-recognized program covers the cost of books and tuition at any one of DCCCD's seven colleges to qualified high school graduates from public schools in Dallas County.

In the 1980s, Mr. Miles gave $300,000 to establish the Miles Production Company Scholarship endowment, which provides funds to deserving students in the district.

Mr. Miles' involvement with the college district went beyond monetary contributions. He served on the DCCCD Foundation's board of directors for more than 20 years and was honored as director emeritus in 1996. He received the 1999 Benefactor Award at the national convention of the Council for Resource Development - an affiliate of the American Association of Community Colleges - for his outstanding contributions to community colleges.

Aside from digging deep into his own pockets, digging deep to find rich resources was a specialty of Mr. Miles, who had been in the oil drilling business since 1937, when he worked for the Texas Company (TEXACO) in oil fields near Houston. After serving as a decorated fighter pilot in World War II, he went into the oil and gas production business, organizing Miles Production Company and later joining forces with two business associates to create Trio Drilling Company in 1949.

In 1951, Mr. Miles, John A. (Jack) Jackson, George and Johnny Mitchell, Merlyn Christie and other geologists were responsible for tapping the famous Boonesville Discovery in Wise County. A 350-mile pipeline to move the gas from Wise County to the Texas Panhandle and on to Chicago was completed in 1957. He and his associates were prolific discoverers and developers of numerous gas reserves in north Texas, and they drilled more than 1,000 wells.

Mr. Miles never retired from the oil business. He kept his field offices open in Bridgeport, Texas, and Jacksboro, Texas. After completing a deal with Mitchell Energy Company Group, he moved to Jack County, where he continued to drill and operate wells until his death.

Among his professional activities, Mr. Miles was a member of the Texas Independent Petroleum Royalty Owners (TIPRO), Dallas Petroleum Club, Dallas Geological Society and Wise County Roughneck Club.

Mr. Miles was born May 6, 1918, to Clopton A. Miles and Nora Butler Miles in Cleveland, Texas. The second of three sons, Mr. Miles was raised in nearby Liberty, where he graduated from high school in 1936. He attended Texas A&M University in 1936-37 and was in the process of earning his bachelor's degree in geology at the University of Houston in 1941 when World War II broke out.

Mr. Miles' passion for the skies started at an early age. His passion grew during World War II, when he joined the U.S. Army Air Force as an aviation cadet and began his flight training in the ROTC program. He was immediately called to active duty in the Army Air Force and was assigned as a bomber pilot to the 8th Army Air Force in Europe. As captain and squadron leader of the "Woolaroc," a B-17 bomber, he completed 25 missions in the 92nd bombardment group, 407th squadron, and received three combat decorations - Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with Three Oak Clusters and Presidential Citation.

Mr. Miles' two brothers also served in World War II. His older brother, Abe, was a pilot as well. His younger brother, Glynn, was killed in action over Italy in a plane crash. Mr. Miles received an honorable discharge from the Air Force in 1945 with the rank of captain.

Mr. Miles' parents and two brothers are deceased.

For more information, please call Betheny Reid, executive director of the DCCCD Foundation, at 214.860.2474.