Columbia man remembered for being social, active
COLUMBIA — Two years ago, Miles Heard moved to Columbia from Chicago to start a better life.
“He came here because he never wanted to get caught up in crime,” his fiancée, Lachonia Reed, said. Mr. Heard told his mother that Chicago was too full of crime, so he moved to Columbia to escape it.
His mother, Shirley Heard, said she respected his decision, but she missed him when he moved away. She said he did make an effort to visit her when he could.
Reed said Mr. Heard was a “very lovable person,” who was “very social and never stuck up.” She said that he was “my sunshine on my bad days.”
Mr. Heard was also active and didn’t like to sit around, Reed said. He liked sports, especially basketball.
“Basketball was kind of his thing,” Reed said. “He played it all the time.” He often played at the Activity and Recreation Center on Sundays. If he wasn’t playing sports, he still liked to get outside.
“He always said, ‘Let’s go for a walk,’” Reed said.
Reed met Mr. Heard while she was working at Kids Foot Locker in the Columbia Mall. He first came in to buy shoes for his two children. He often came in just to see her, but “he was always so nervous, so he never said anything to me,” Reed said. Later, a mutual friend introduced them. Heard proposed to Reed in September 2007.
While in Columbia, he worked at Derby Ridge Elementary School as a custodian for a year. After that, he worked in temporary services for a while. This past June, he started detailing cars.
Reed’s sister, Veronica Washington, said that Mr. Heard was loved very much and that he will never be forgotten.
Mr. Heard died Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2008, of gunshot wounds. He was 28.
He was born Dec. 4, 1979.
Mr. Heard is survived by his parents, Shirley Heard and Miles Bobby Brown, and four brothers, Myles, Denzel, Ramsey and Antonio, all of Chicago. His grandmother, Thelma Heard, died earlier.
Services will be at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Leak & Sons Funeral Home in Chicago.
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