It is with tremendous sorrow that the family and friend circle of Michael Wayne Stiles announce his passing. Husband of the late and much beloved Lori Knight Stiles, father to daughter Emma Elaine “Em” Stiles, who survives in Inwood with her godmother, Jane Couser and ‘the Ryman,’ Michael was the fifth child of the late James Dale “Jim” Stiles(1930-2005), and of Esther K Stiles, who survives in Elkins.
Michael was born in Sistersville, West Virginia, and spent his early years in Tyler and Braxton counties. His family moved to the family farm in Tucker County when he was still very young, and Michael attended Saint George Academy–where he learned compassion, humility, and how to play chess really well, in addition to gaining the foundations of a good education.
Michael’s passion for the arts expressed itself early. He was in the band while at Tucker County High School and following graduation in 1987 he attended Fairmont State College (now University). There, he earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre and Music Education; a master’s degree in Directing from Roosevelt University in Chicago came later. Michael began his teaching career near and in Tucker County, but in 1994 he found his true life’s calling when he accepted the position of Theatre Director at Musselman High School in Berkeley County, WV.
Michael also found his life partner around this time, a powerful soul by the name of Lori Elaine Knight, daughter of Larry Knight and Virginia Horne-Knight of Clarksburg, West Virginia. Lori and Mike were married in 1995 and the two truly were soulmates. They welcomed their daughter, Em, into their lives in 2010, and celebrated over twenty-five years of marriage together before Lori’s untimely death in 2022. “Stiles” (Michael) and “Drama Mama” (Lori) were the team–helping to positively shape high school lives and later successful careers of so many young people who went through the Theatre program at Musselman.
Michael won many awards and served in many professional capacities over the years. He was West Virginia Theatre Teacher of the Year in 2005, and recipient of the Arch Coal Teacher Achievement Award in 2007. He also served as the President of the West Virginia Theatre Association and as West Virginia State Thespian Chapter Director. Under his direction, Michael’s students performed across the US and as far away as the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. In 2017-18 he served as Berkeley County Chairperson for the Arts; in 2019, Michael was named Outstanding Theatre Educator Alumni by the School of Fine Arts at Fairmont State University. Former students and their families remember Michael as someone whose skills as a teacher and theatre director aided students in finding their unique paths to their futures–helping so many to “blossom” into their authentic selves as they reached adulthood.
Until early retirement became a necessity, Michael’s over a quarter century spent at Musselman High was filled with many accolades and rewarding shows and courses. And despite his diagnosis of terminal cholangiocarcinoma, Michael was actively parenting, acting, and volunteering his time with theatre groups and the local Indivisible chapter in his community, up to his passing at home in the early morning hours of September 20th. His final stage performance as an actor was in late July and early August of this year. He played two roles in the Old Opera House’s production of The Wizard of Oz: as a West-Virginia-accented Uncle Henry, and as The Gatekeeper/Imperial Guard character in the Emerald City. To both roles he brought breadth and depth not seen even in the original 1939 Wizard of Oz film portrayals of these two characters.
Along with his daughter and mother, left to cherish Michael’s memory are many, many friends who are like family, as well as an extended Stiles family of cousins, nieces, and nephews–some of whom recall his patience in playing Dungeons and Dragons with them while young, and his introducing others of his extended family to the world of Broadway on road trips to New York City. Also left to cherish his memory are his father and mother-in law, Larry and Ginny Knight, of Clarksburg, West Virginia, and his five siblings and their families: Teresa Myers(Tony), of St. George; Deborah Stiles(Lawrence Troska) of Limestone Mountain; James Stiles of Roanoke, VA; Richard Stiles (Elizabeth) of Richmond, VA; and David Stiles(Tamaki) of Silver Spring, MD.
A celebration of Michael’s life will be held on Friday, October 3rd, at Brown’s Funeral Home 287 Arden Nollville Rd., Inwood, WV 25428. Visitation will be at 11 am and the service will begin at 12 noon. Procession to graveside at Gerrardstown Presbyterian Church Cemetery will follow the service.
In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made via the GoFundMe page set up in Michael’s honor to assist Em and her family.
Michael loved anything his daughter Em baked; his sister Teresa’s no bake cookies and pepperoni rolls; his sister Deborah’s soup beans and cornbread (even when she hid carrots, kale and other greens in those soup beans!). He loved to listen to recordings of thunderstorms and rain showers, as they reminded him of the many summer storms lighting up the nights at the farm above St. George, where he grew up. Michael was perhaps the founding member of the Stiles family Star Trek Fan Club. And he was, like his father (and all Trekkies), an eternal optimist. “Even in the darkest circumstances, there is always a light—sometimes only a glimmer. Trust that light. Find a way back, no matter what it takes.” (Captain Picard [as spoken by actor Patrick Stewart], Star Trek: TNG).
Michael’s life was a life well lived; he will be missed.
