Andy Miles died peacefully on June 20th in Charlotte, NC. He is survived by his wife Sabine Vellucci, his son Sebastian, his mother Barbara Benchoff Miles, sister Ann Miles (Peter Colgrove), Locust Valley New York, brother John Miles (Monica Miles) of New York City, sister-in-law Christina Vellucci (Dennis McDonald) of Charlotte North Carolina. He is also survived by his nephews and nieces, Matthew, Samantha, Andreas, Adelaide, Declan, and Lachlan.
Andy was born in Troy, New York, the youngest son of Barbara and Wesley Miles. After a short childhood in upstate New York, the family moved first to Liverpool, England, then to Athens Greece, where his father took a teaching job, and his mother became a librarian. After many years travelling around Greece and Southern Europe, the family moved back to the US to Long Island, New York in 1972. There Andy attended and graduated from Portledge School before heading south to Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina where he achieved a BA in English and was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity that meant so much to him.
After a short stint back in New York right after college, Andy moved back to North Carolina, marrying Sabine in 2008 and welcoming their son Sebastian in 2011. Andy and Sabine had just begun a new adventure to move up to Locust Valley, New York when he was stricken with Glioblastoma (a fast-growing and aggressive brain tumor), precipitating a stay in Charlotte to receive treatment. Andy spent eight months battling the disease and had many good months due to the effectiveness of the treatments during certain times.
Andy was devoted to Sabine and Sebastian, and they built a wonderful family life in Charlotte. Among Andy’s many passions were music, word games, music festivals, his work, golf, travel, barbecuing, politics, sports, and spending time with his family at Topsail Beach on the coast of North Carolina and the Great Sacandaga Lake in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York.
All will miss his quick-witted humor, keen intellect, and jovial character, especially those who worked with Andy during his almost 30 years at Donnelley Financial Solutions. Andy loved his job and had most recently moved into a new position when the diagnosis came. Andy was devastated that he was never able to go back to work and wrap up the projects he had started and be a part of the fall proxy season. Above all, Andy loved being with people, family and enjoying life.
In lieu of flowers, Sabine, and Andy request that donations be made to the Humane Society of Charlotte; https://humanesocietyofcharlotte.org/give/.
July 19th (Friday) 4-7pm, a Visitation with the family will be held at Hankins & Whittington Funeral Home, 1111 East Blvd., Charlotte, NC 28203. All are invited to visit.
July 20th (Saturday) a private Celebration of Life will be held.
July 27th (Saturday) 11am, a Memorial Service will be held at Christ Church, 61 E. Main Street, Oyster Bay, NY 11771.
Both the Celebration of Life and Memorial Service will be webcast and recorded for those not able to make the services. More details can be found on Andy Miles’ Caring Bridge website.