Sean (right) with Anders Chen and Christian Diegel
Sean died on January 10, 1999, not yet halfway through his sophomore year. Born and raised in Bozeman, MT, Sean never truly left living near the “backbone of the world” even while attending Princeton. An excellent writer and a talented artist, Sean graduated at the top of his high school class and gave a commencement address steeped in Native American heritage, an address that still resonates today with those who heard it. A selfless individual for whom family came first and the environment of his beloved Rockies second, Sean had a magical way with words. Of Montana, he wrote, “It is a land I desperately love. It is a part of me. It hurts so much to care so much. Yet as a Westerner, I am invited to breathe it all in deeply each day.”
With the ability to light up the room with his smile and put anyone at ease with his banter, Sean’s openness and honesty affected everyone with whom he came into contact. Senator Max Baucus of Montana, a family fried of the Miles family, read a remembrance on the Senate floor and now sponsors the Miles Fellowship in Conservation. Professor Robert Fagles said of him a few days after his passing: “By my lights, Sean Miles was the best that we can do – bright, responsive, hard-working, clear in expression, clear in thought, and with a personality immediately likable, immediately commanding respect.”
He is survived by his father Mike, his mother Joan, and his sisters Michelle and Shaleen. He is remembered and deeply missed by all Princetonians who came into contact with him.