John Loyless

John Miles Loyless, 63, died Saturday, June 6, 2009, at the Heart Center of Spartanburg Regional Medical Center. John was born July 28, 1945, and was the only child of the late John Henry and Louise Lee Loyless. John was raised by his loving Mother, and wonderful maternal grandparents, the late Peggy and Boyd Keller. John graduated from Fairforest High School in 1963 and attended classes at USC-Spartanburg. He worked for "the phone company" under Southern Bell, AT&T, and retired from BellSouth in 1993 after thirty years of service. As owner and President of Knight Services, he was presently a contractor with Milliken & Company in their telecommunications department. John was known by his peers as the most accomplished and most capable PBX and Data engineering technician. Family and friends will miss John's adventurous and curious spirit. He was an avid outdoorsman who enjoyed flying, swimming, fishing, scuba diving, camping, biking, motorcycles, hiking, cars, sailing, and photography. In earlier years, he was a certified Red Cross swim instructor, an instrument-rated pilot, a competition marksman, a member of the Inman Dive Club, the Spartanburg Gun Club, and, as a child, the Spartanburg Sky Knights Model Airplane Club. John was a member of the Palmetto State Airstream Club. John is survived by the love of his life, his wife of eight years, Wanda Lawson Loyless; his two daughters, Allison Sanders and husband Dale, and Shannon Owens and husband Don; grandsons Byron Fields and Miles Breisch of Rutherfordton, NC; granddaughters, Hannah McCool of Rutherfordton, NC, and Casey Navy and husband Doug of Greer. John is survived by his "Lawson" family, Vicki and Darrell Kendrick, Kathy and Ira Lawson, Rhonda and Eddie Lawson, Kim and Joey Lawson, Alyson and Bill Varner, Lindsay and Joel Taylor, Holly, Justin, Tyler, Joseph, and Sydney Lawson, Audra and Sophie Varner, all of Pauline, Blake and Anna Kendrick of Greenwood, and Travis and Meredith Funderburg of Monticello, AR. In addition, John is survived by his lifelong best friend, Armand Johnson; and his second mother, Elaine Gaines. Visitation will be 6:00-8:00 p.m. Monday, June 8, 2009, at Floyd's Greenlawn Chapel. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 9, 2009, at Floyd's Greenlawn Chapel conducted by the Rev. Blake Kendrick, the Rev. Gary Peterson, and Dr. Henry Johnson. Pallbearers will be Shannon Owens, Allison Sanders, Vance Johnson, Lance Johnson, Milo Hill, Mike Moxley, Perrin Powell, and Dean Genoble. An Honorary Escort of Telephone Company and Milliken & Company co-workers is requested. The family is at the home. Memorials may be made to Bogansville United Methodist Church Building Fund, 4052 Buffalo-West Springs Highway, Jonesville, SC 29353. Floyd's Greenlawn Chapel To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of John Miles Loyless please visit our Sympathy Store.