Myra Ann Hiles

February 1, 1924 - May 15, 2020

Mrs. Myra Ann (Searfoss) Hiles age 96, of Odessa, MO died at 10:45 a.m., on May 15, 2020 at the Country Oaks Village in Gain Valley, Missouri. A visitation will be held on Tuesday, May 19, 2020 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., at the Ralph O. Jones Funeral Home, 306 S. 2nd St., Odessa, MO, 64076, 816-633-5524. A graveside service will follow at 2:00 p.m., on Tuesday at the Odessa Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to the Music/Arts Institute, 1010 S. Pearl St., Independence, MO, 64050 or the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, 4550 Montgomery Ave. Set. 350N, Bethesda, Md. 20814. Memories of Myra and condolences for her family may be left at www.LedfordFamilyFH.com or on our Facebook Page. Myra was born on February 1, 1924 in Odessa, MO, the second daughter of Dr. and Mrs. R.L. Searfoss. She attended first grade in Odessa. The family moved to Marshall, MO in 1930. Mrs. Hiles graduated from Marshall High School in 1941 and Central Missouri State Teachers’ College (now UCM) in February 1945 with a B.S. in Education. While there she was a member of Sigma Sigma Sigma Social Sorority, Kappa Delta Pi, Alpha Phi Delta Association for Childhood Education and Future Teachers of America. Mrs. Hiles taught first grade and kindergarten in Independence, Missouri from 1945 to 1950. She married Perry Lorenzo Hiles, Jr. on August 15, 1948 and lived in Independence until 1951 when they moved to a farm south of Bates City, Missouri. She taught first grade at Odessa R-7 for 26 years, retiring in 1987. She moved back to Odessa in 1998. She enjoyed substitute teaching at Odessa R-7 for 10 additional years. She was a member of the Bates City, Missouri Community of Christ Church, Daughters of the American Revolution (Gilead Rupe Chapter, Odessa), Odessa Retired Teachers Association, AARP, and past member of the Order of Eastern Star (Marshall Chapter), Order of Rainbow for Girls (Marshall), Odessa R-7 Education Association, Community Teachers Association, and American Association of University Women. The Hiles’ had three children: Perry Lorenzo Hiles III, Myra Ellen Hiles, and Ralph William Hiles. She is survived by son, Bill Hiles and wife Cindy of Bates City, MO; a daughter-in-law, Janice Hiles of Raleigh, MS, six grandchildren, fifteen great-grandchildren and seven great-great grandchildren; and a sister, Alice Irene Allen of Mesa, AZ. She was preceded in death by her husband of 43 years in 1991; a daughter Myra Ellen in 1966 at age 13, a son Perry L. Hiles, III in 2017, a sister Mary Leta Boyd and a brother, Dr. Robert Searfoss, Jr.