In Memoriam:
Hon. Wendell A. Miles
(1916-2013)
The Hon. Wendell A. Miles, born in 1916 in Holland, Michigan, received his undergraduate degree from Hope College, his MA from the University of Wyoming, and his J.D. from the University of Michigan. After his service in the U.S. Army during World War II, Miles stayed on in France as a Judge Advocate General Corps officer, trying cases in black marketeering. While in Strasbourg, he met Mariette Bruckert, a native of France who helped him with translation, and married her in 1946. She preceded him in death in 2009.
Upon his return to Holland, Miles joined his father Fred T. Miles, a retired circuit judge, in the law firm Miles and Miles, but this ended when Wendell Miles was elected Ottawa County Prosecutor in 1948. In 1953, he became the U.S. District Attorney for the Western District of Michigan.
He then joined Miles, Mika, Meyers, Beckett and Jones, and, during the 1960s, was a special city attorney for Grand Rapids as well as special counsel for the Grand Rapids School Board.
Governor William Milliken appointed him in 1970 as the judge for the 20th Judicial Circuit, which covered Ottawa and Allegan counties, followed by his 1974 appointment as
U.S. District Judge for the Western District of Michigan, where he remained until 2008. He served as Chief Judge from 1980 until he took senior status in 1986.
He also served on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court for a seven-year term starting in 1989.
He is survived by his three children, Lorraine Miles, Michele Miles Kopinski, and Thomas Paul Miles; seven grandchildren, Chad Rector, Kelly Rector-Engstrom, Brian Kopinski, David Kopinski, Sara Miles, Christopher Miles and John Miles; six great-grandchildren, Petra Engstrom, Soren Engstrom, Annike Engstrom, Tova Engstrom, Milo Rector, and Aldis Mariette Bromeland; and three nephews, George Miles of Holland, Cap Miles of Rockford and Steve Miles from Loch Lomond, Calif.
A memorial service for the Hon. Wendell Miles is planned for Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. at the Porter Hills Meeting House, 3600 E. Fulton, Grand Rapids.
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