Passed away August 14, 2025. Loving mother of Jessica. Public viewing Friday, August 29, 2025 12pm-7pm at H.M. Martin Funeral Home. Funeral service Saturday, August 30, 2025 11am at New Sardis Primitive Baptist Church, 3474 E.147th Street. Family will receive friends at 10am.

God is the giver of all good and perfect gifts. In this, He gave to the world a gift: to Cora Mae Ford-Miles, a firstborn; to Paul and Lizzie, a granddaughter; to Nathaniel (John), a twin; to Diane, Dolester, and Michael, a big sister; to New Sardis, a Church School teacher, church secretary, choir president, and church mother; to the Warrensville City School District, a business and typing educator, softball and girls track coach, spirit club and class advisor, and sports announcers and score keeper; and to Jessica Renee Miles, a beloved mother extraordinaire. On Wednesday, April 23, 1952, in the Highland Hills section of Bessemer, Alabama, the gift to the world known as Naomi “Cissy” Ford was born.

Naomi was the firstborn and the twin sister of Nathaniel (John), born to Cora Mae Ford. At an early age, Cora Mae married Jim Miles, and the children’s surname was changed from Ford to Miles—a name Naomi would carry with grace throughout her life. Because Jim’s military service required frequent moves away from Alabama, Naomi and John returned to live with their grandparents, Paul and Lizzie Ford. In their home, Naomi grew in wisdom and faith, developing both a love for learning and a tender, lifelong bond with her grandmother, whom she affectionately called “Mama.”

In the Ford home, Christ was both taught and lived. Each Sunday, “Mama” would take Naomi and her brother John to Antioch Baptist Church, where the foundation of Naomi’s faith was laid. Reflecting on her journey in a paper for The Warren Bible Institute, Naomi wrote, “It was not hard for me to realize that I was a sinner and needed Jesus Christ in my life to save me from the fires of Hell.”

In June of 1960, at Antioch Baptist Church in Bessemer, under the pastorate of Rev. R. L. Starkey, Naomi rose from the “mourning bench,” gave the pastor her hand, and gave God her heart—holding fast to the truth of her favorite scripture, Romans 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.” This moment began her sixty-five-year devotion to the church and its work. Almost immediately, Naomi dedicated herself to service, becoming the Church School secretary and, by the age of twelve, serving as an assistant church school teacher.

Naomi had a lifelong passion for education. From the third grade through the twelfth grade, she achieved perfect attendance, a reflection of her deep devotion to learning. She often recalled a time when a torrential rainstorm left her drenched and late to class, and though her teacher refused to excuse the tardiness, leaving her record blemished, it only deepened her determination. Naomi went on to become a trailblazer in Black history in Alabama. In 1968, she was among the first Black students to integrate Hueytown High School, and in 1970, she became the school’s very first Black graduate. While at Hueytown, Naomi faced the harsh reality of racism, but she refused to let prejudice diminish her spirit. Instead, she found joy in her studies, particularly in accounting, where she consistently earned the highest marks in her class. Her classmates would often remark, “We already know who has the highest grade—tell us who did well after Naomi!”

In 1970, upon graduating from Hueytown High School, Naomi followed in the footsteps of her uncle, Preston Ford, as a legacy student at Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee. She initially majored in accounting, but at her uncle’s urging—believing she needed a field that would guarantee a career—she changed her major to education. Though teaching was not her first passion, it soon became her lifelong calling. Naomi graduated from Knoxville College in the spring of 1974 and moved north to Cleveland, Ohio, to live with her beloved Aunt Nellie Snyder. It was in Cleveland that her legacy in education began to take root. She first taught adult education at Collinwood High School during the 1974–1975 school year, before moving into the work that would define her career.

In 1975, Ms. began her career as an educator in the Warrensville City School District. There she poured her heart into teaching a generation of scholars in the business department. Though she had not been permitted to major in accounting, she taught the subject with excellence, alongside shorthand and typing. Long before the State of Ohio introduced financial literacy standards, Ms. Miles was equipping her students with the basics of managing money and even how to file their taxes. She was a teacher par excellence who transformed her own childhood experiences of loneliness and abandonment into a ministry of compassion. Ms. Miles had a special niche with troubled students, doing all she could to pour into them and speak life over them—even when society and others could not see their value and worth. She shared not only her story but also the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, reminding her students that a relationship with Him is what makes life truly worth living.

While at Warrensville High School, Ms. Miles was deeply involved with her students both inside and outside the classroom. She served faithfully as a class advisor and spirit club advisor, and she was well known as a sports announcer and scorekeeper for volleyball and both the girls’ and boys’ basketball games.

Among her most cherished roles was coaching. She poured her heart into leading the softball and girls’ track teams, leaving an indelible mark on Warrensville athletics. In 1980, according to the Warrensville High School Memwarrs: Ms. Miles guided six young ladies to represent Warrensville at the state meet in Columbus, Ohio. Although they did not win the championship, under her leadership, one student placed fifth in the long jump, scoring the first points in Warrensville girls’ track history.

Ms. Miles also found great joy in fellowshipping with her colleagues from Warrensville, building lasting friendships beyond the classroom. She was an avid bowler and approached the sport with the same passion and determination that marked her teaching and coaching. One of her proudest achievements came when she bowled a perfect game, scoring 300. As a result of her bowling accomplishments, Naomi was honored with numerous trophies and awards, a testament to both her skill and her love for the game.

Upon moving with her Aunt Nellie, Sis. Miles also came into covenant with New Sardis Primitive Baptist Church. As she would later put it: “Nellie said, ‘If you stay in my house, you going to church!’” Because of Aunt Nellie’s devotion to New Sardis, Sis. Miles soon joined the church in the summer of 1974 and committed her mind and her hands to the work of the Kingdom. For the next fifty-one years, she faithfully served under three pastors of New Sardis and fully supported them and their ministries.

Sis. Miles ministry at New Sardis was expansive and enduring. She began as Church Clerk under Elder T. M. Batts, Sr., later serving as Church School Secretary, President of the Adult Choir where she served as the editor of The Voices Newsletter, and Church School Teacher under Elder Dr. Larry D. Tatum. In 2023, she was honored by being capped as a Church Mother under Elder Dr. Vincent E. Stokes II.

Sis. Miles Her ability to teach and break down the Word of God was evident in her church school class, where each week she studied diligently and prepared worksheets for her students. Beyond the classroom, Sis. Miles also used her artistic and writing gifts to bring to life many stage plays at New Sardis, leaving lasting impressions on the congregation. She cultivated a beloved character, “Nay Nay” through whom she added humor, creativity, and insight, reprising the role in church announcements, commercials, and plays alike.

Sis. Miles passion for teaching shone brightest when she became the boys’ Church School teacher; her class grew from four to more than twenty young men each Sunday. Students would often approach her and say, “I can’t wait to get in your Sunday School Class!” One of those students, who would call her while suspended from school just to sing hymns with her, later answered his own call to ministry and became the third pastor she would serve under at New Sardis, Elder Dr. Vincent E. Stokes II.

Sis. Miles commitment to the Kingdom through the work of the church was evident. In 2021, New Sardis celebrated her for forty-seven years of dedicated service—a ministry that ultimately spanned more than five decades and left a legacy of faith, education, and love that will never be forgotten. Beyond her service at New Sardis, Sis. Miles devoted herself to the wider church community. For nearly two decades, she served faithfully as President of the Midwestern States Convention Women’s Congress, where she led with vision and grace. She also served on the Scholarship Committee and as Recording Secretary of the Women’s Congress of the Chicago River Primitive Baptist Association. Through these roles, Sis. Miles demonstrated unwavering fervor and commitment, carrying the work of the church beyond the local congregation and making an impact that reached across the region.

In 2015, at the age of sixty-three, the teacher became the student. After decades of pouring biblical truths into others, Sis. Miles resolved to continue her education and strengthen her own biblical foundation. At the urging of a former Sunday School student, she enrolled in Liberty University’s Master of Divinity program. She labored diligently, often battling discouragement and the challenges of a genetic eye disease that required long pauses between assignments. Yet, in 2021, after six years of perseverance, Sis. Miles earned her Master of Divinity degree. Encouraged by her daughter Jessica and that same former student, she pressed onward, undertaking a research project close to her heart: “The Apathy of Members of the Local Church in the Twenty-First Century.” In 2022, at the age of seventy, her faithful pursuit of excellence was crowned as she received the Doctor of Ministry degree from Liberty University, and was thereafter recognized, both professionally and ecclesiastically, as Dr. Naomi Miles.

While considered a mother and a mother figure to many, Dr. Miles was the loving, caring, and supporting mother of one biological daughter, Jessica Renee Miles.Dr. Miles and Jessica shared a devoted mother–daughter bond that endured and endeared them to one another. Dr. Miles’ commitment to Jessica was shown in the many sacrifices she made to ensure her child wanted for nothing, often working several jobs to

meet her needs. If Dr. Miles had to go without, she would—so long as Jessica was cared for. In turn, Jessica’s love was demonstrated through the attention and care she gave her mother until Dr. Miles drew her last earthly breath.

On Thursday, August 14, 2025, from her earthly home at 13825 Emery Avenue, Mo. Dr. Naomi Miles realized that the old house she lived in was wearing down. Her eyes had grown dimmer and her steps shorter. She could no longer play softball as she once did, or read her Bible daily as had been her lifelong ritual. But because she had hidden the Word in her heart, she knew the promise: “If the earthly house of this tabernacle be dissolved, we have a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” At 4:53 p.m., Mother Dr. Naomi Miles folded up her seventy-three-year-old tent and inherited the prize of salvation that for over fifty years she had sung and taught about.

To carry on her legacy of life, love, and faith are her beloved daughter, confidante, caretaker, and dearest friend,Jessica Renee Miles; her son of the heart and pastor, Elder Dr. Vincent E. Stokes II(Fannie); her grandson of the heart, Vincent, III (“Little V”), whom she cared for from birth until almost a year old and whom he called “Nana Nay-Nay”; her sistersDiane George and Dolester Miles; her brother Michael J. (Shirley) Miles; one aunt, Queen Esther Harris, and a host of nieces, nephews, relatives, students, church family, and friends who will cherish her memory.