and What the Hell has been going on for the last 58 Years.

I want to thank Peaches, Si, and Charlie for making the request of getting a quick review of the last 50++ years of our lives. It has surely reminded me of how Vietnam affected our generation. Thinking again about Sigma Chi makes me appreciate how I believe you all helped me in many ways but especially taking a shy college student and making him a little more social. It’s been great to hear what’s been going on with us before getting together next week.

Here goes for the last 58 years for me. First off I changed the spelling of my name from Chris Miel to Chris Mile to stop the frustration of everyone not knowing how to pronounce my last name.

After leaving Miami in 1966, I spent the next 10 years in NYC. I got an MBA from Columbia then worked for a computer company. When the first of two sons was on his way, I wanted to leave NYC and went back to Michigan in 1977 and purchase some beer/wine distributors and talked to the experienced Jeff Eydenberg about that. I really liked owning a business instead of working for a big corporation. I sold the beer/wine business in the early 90’s. I had been doing merger and acquisition work in that industry and kept doing that after the sale, but I was missing running a business.

In the mid 90’s, I ended up starting a golf center called Miles of Golf in Ann Arbor where I have lived for the last 35 years. Ann Arbor is the home of the other U of M and is a great college town. The golf center has golf retail, ranges, academies, and taverns. www.milesofgolf.com Not sure you remember but I was on the Miami Golf Team and its captain so I really like that business and it is still operating in Ann Arbor and Cincinnati. It has done surprisingly well especially after Covid when it went up 60%. Last year I had someone else run the business and I have stopped daily activities there. I am probably going to put it on the market soon.

Moving on from a career, I have had 3 wives, one died when I was in NYC from Hodgkin’s Disease. My second wife and I have 2 sons and 5 grandchildren living in Colorado. She is a wonderful person but it was better for us to part. My third wife was a hospital pharmacist who added nutrition to her career. She got sick of seeing patients on 20+ medications and could recommend a diet that would eliminate some drugs.

I did not play much golf after leaving Miami until I was in my 50s and started Miles of Golf. I had some really good competitive years and finished 2nd in the Michigan Amateur one year and would have been the oldest to win if I had won. When my golf started to show its age, I took up running in my 60s and ran 10 marathons during that decade. I’m still running but only do 10Ks. Both golf and running now show a lot of age!

I’m really looking forward to seeing everyone in Orlando. If you happen to ever be in the Detroit area let me know. I would love to get together especially if you want to play golf. I also have a place in Colorado where my sons live. It is near Aspen so love to ski with any fellow skiers.