Obituary of Miles Winthrop Moriarty

Miles Winthrop Moriarty

COLUMBIA—Miles Moriarty, Grand Panjandrum and Raconteur Extraordinaire, left this earth on Friday, June 19, 2020, to join his beloved American Rottweiler Zeke at the Rainbow Bridge. He was born on April 7, 1938 in Washington, D.C. and spent his formative years variously in South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas, moving with his father, James T. Moriarty, as he served in the Army. His mother, Adele Gretchen Bell, died in Columbia S.C. when Miles was only 4 years old. While their father served during World War II, Miles and his four siblings were reared by their Irish grandmother, Bridgette Delia Daley Moriarty (“all green and a yard wide”).

When their father left the service, the five Moriarty siblings lived with him in Dallas, Texas and Memphis, Tenn. Bristling under the authority of his father, Miles “escaped” twice, once to California and then joined the Army at age 16, using his sister Merle’s birth certificate dated 1936. When the Army discovered that his “equipment” wasn’t of the female persuasion, he was granted an Honorable Discharge. Miles attended Columbia Commercial College where he met his first wife, Berrie Mae Harmon of Prosperity, S.C., and received a diploma from the Stenographic Department in 1956. His first job was as a typist at Fort Jackson, rated GS-1 Temporary (“lower than whale s--- at the bottom of the ocean”). While in Columbia, he also completed a Dale Carnegie Course in Effective Speaking, Leadership Training and Human Relations in 1960, and was a graduate assistant in Dale Carnegie Classes presented by Ross Higgins, a Columbia real estate broker.

Miles was hired by the Gillette Company in 1963. He progressed through the corporate sales ranks in Knoxville, Miami, Chicago, and Cincinnati, and was eventually promoted to National Sales Training Manager at Gillette headquarters in Boston. In 1976, he left Gillette to join Marks International as V.P. Sales & Marketing, placing Marks brand scissors into department store notions departments and fabric chains, and secured a large contract to sell scissors to the Fuller Brush Company. He eventually returned to Gillette in its Braun division, where he famously sold Braun electric razors to Wilkinson Sword, a razor and blade company in Connecticut.

In 1993, he started his own company called Connexxions, to manufacture Hand-Aids, a spandex support glove with no fingers, designed to relieve the cramping and pain associated with arthritis and tendinitis, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other repetitive motion conditions. He sold that company to his largest distributor in 2009 and retired from commercial ventures.

In 1992, Miles moved from New Jersey to Columbia, S.C. with his “current wife” of 28 years, Betty Watts. While in Columbia, he served 20 years as president of the Greengate Lakefront Owners Association, where he persuaded Richland County to dredge and restore Upper Pine Lake.

Miles never met a dog he didn’t like. He loved the written word and used to read the dictionary for fun. He played a mean game of Scrabble, and only stopped when Betty won more games.

Miles is survived by his oldest sibling, Maureen Wickliffe (Moriarty) Dumin of Wauwatosa, Wisc.; the two wives he loved, Berrie and Betty; and five adult children (spouses): Jim Moriarty (Teresa) and Jeanne McGee (Bill) of Columbia, Jan Burkhardt (Dan) of Scituate, Massachusetts, Michele Tower (David, deceased), and John Moriarty (Deborah) also of Columbia; nine grandchildren, eight great grandchildren, and a plethora of other relatives and friends scattered across the U.S. He was predeceased by two brothers, Morton Winston Moriarty and Marshall Wayne Moriarty, and one sister Merle Wynn (Moriarty) Philbrick.

The family would like to thank all the wonderful health professionals who assisted Miles: Dr. Russell Ditzler, Palmetto Family Medicine; Dr. Chad Cheuk, urologist at Dorn V.A. Medical Center; Dr. Syed Gilani, Palmetto Pulmonology; Chris Shields, RN at The Neighborhood Nurse and Greg Kyle, RN at Abbey Road Hospice and all their CNA caregivers who provided excellent support for Miles.

Miles’ final message to all is “Be well and be of good cheer.” In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the Greengate Homeowners Association, PO Box 23505, Columbia SC 29224 or to the ASPCA. A celebration of his life will be held via Zoom video conference, date to be determined. To join the Zoom celebration, please email Betty for details: comcon@mindspring.com.