Funeral arrangements announced for JP Wiles

Dec. 28--Funeral arrangements have been announced for former Somerset mayor JP Wiles.

Wiles, 85, died Thursday at the Jean Waddle Hospice Care Center, surrounded by his family, after a prolonged illness.

Visitation will be on Monday after 5:00pm at East Somerset Baptist Church. A second visitation will be held Tuesday at the church from 10:00 a.m. until Wiles' funeral starts at 12:00 noon.

Serving two terms from 1999 through the end of 2006, Mayor Wiles was known for his conservative approach to local government -- reining in expenses while vigorously hunting for state and federal grants to further city projects. Over the course of eight years, an estimated $75 million in grant monies was awarded during Wiles' administration.

Somerset's own Congressman Hal Rogers, a ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee, was instrumental in helping to secure that funding. The two men's friendship went back decades, and the congressman was one of the first to pay tribute as news of Wiles' passing began to spread.

"JP Wiles was one of Somerset's most cheerful mayors and one of my closes friends," Congressman Rogers stated. "He was by my side on the earliest campaign trails, a trusted partner on projects for our beloved hometown, and always the best teammate -- both on the golf course and in business. I'm proud of the accomplishments we made during his tenure as Mayor of Somerset and the lasting impact that those projects will continue to have on our community for many decades.

"It is always tough to lose a dear friend and community pillar like JP," Rogers continued. "Cynthia and I extend our deepest sympathy to the Wiles family and his incredible circle of friends."

Alan Keck, current Mayor of Somerset, announced that all flags will be flying at half-staff on city properties through the funeral on New Year's Eve.

"JP Wiles was always so kind and gracious," Mayor Keck recalled. "He led our city with a vision and vigor and always did what he felt was right. I'm honored to serve in the same chair he led from and I know fully that history has and will continue to remember Mayor Wiles well. Please join me in praying for his family and come Spring, play a round of golf in his honor. I know he'd look down on you with a smile."

Pulaski County Judge-Executive Steve Kelley, a former member of Somerset City Council, didn't serve during the Wiles administration but offered more personal remembrances of the man.

"I never worked with him but grew up with his children, and spent many overnights in his home," Judge Kelley said. "He was always a fun-loving, caring man, who served his city and county with passion. He definitely will be missed by all who knew him."

Wiles is survived by his second wife JoNell Daulton Wiles, whom he married on January 8, 2000; three children; two stepchildren; seven grandchildren and a great-grandchild due next spring.

One of 10 children born to Martha and Cecil Wiles of Mintonville, Kentucky, Wiles grew up on a farm and always told anyone who asked that his name was in fact "JP" -- the letters weren't initials for anything else. He was a veteran of the United States Navy, having served as a gunner aboard the U.S.S. Fletcher during the Korean War.

For several years, Wiles lived in Cincinnati before he and his first wife Betty Ruth (who passed away in 1998) moved their family to Somerset in 1967. Here he would work for Commonwealth Life Insurance Company for 26 years -- delving into politics himself as the City of Somerset's first magistrate on Pulaski County Fiscal Court from 1986 to 1990.

After his tenure as mayor of Somerset, Wiles served as a field representative for Kentucky's Department of Local Government during the Fletcher Administration. In his retirement, Wiles divided his time between his hometown and Sebring, Florida.

The family requests expressions of sympathy be made to Hospice of Lake Cumberland.

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