John William Lyles, 91, died at his home near Armstrong on November 19, 2024.  He was born April 24, 1933, eldest child of Alfred and Mary (Madona) Lyles on a farm near Callao, Mo.

He was drafted into the army in 1953. He served at Fort Hancock, NJ as HQ battery clerk for a new formed Nike missile battalion, being honorably discharged as a corporal in 1955. He briefly ran a bar at a VFW Post with friends.

He attended the University of Missouri Columbia on the GI Bill and received a bachelor’s degree in education and a master’s degree in history.

John married Carolyn Thompson in 1958. In the summers they explored America in a VW Microbus while he taught High school in the Kirkwood, MO. school district where he founded a caving club, the ‘Nut Club’. They lived in Ellisville, MO for more than a quarter century.  He worked for the MO Dept. of Employment Security, mostly as an occupational analyst, until retiring in 1985 when he moved to central Missouri to raise Dorset sheep.

He had a lifelong interest in anthropology and loved meeting people from other places. His hobbies included winemaking, spelunking, hiking, and watercolor.

John is survived by his son, Wesley Lyles of rural Higbee, 3 brothers, Roy Lyles and his wife Joella of Eldon, Frank Lyles and his wife Gayle of St. Peters, Mo., and Mike Lyles and his wife Pat of Shawnee, KS., a sister, Mary Jo Shea, of Tucson, AZ.

He was preceded in death by his wife, paremts, a sister Mae Lovelace, and a brother Ed Lyles.

Per his request there are not to be services