Steven R. Niles, 70, of Fayette, died unexpectedly Monday, June 5, 2017, at Gundersen Palmer Lutheran Hospital in West Union.

Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m. Thursday, June 8, 2017, at the Fayette Community Church with Pastor Andy Sayer officiating. Interment will be held at Lima Cemetery at 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Friends may call from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.  Wednesday, June 7th at Becker-Milnes Funeral Home in Fayette and for one hour prior to the services at the church on Thursday. 

Steven Rex, son of Rex and Joyce (Ideker) Niles, Jr. was born March 10, 1947, at the New Hampton Hospital. He received his education in the Fayette Schools graduating from Fayette High School in 1965. Following high school, Steve continued his education at trade school for mechanics. While attending school at night, he also worked as a mechanic at Zabriskie Auto Shop in Fayette. On March 6, 1970, he was united in marriage with Carol Lamphier at the United Methodist Church in West Union. Steve continued to work for Zabriskie until purchasing the family farm in the spring of 1972. In addition to farming, he had an auto shop he operated at their farm. In 2005, Steve accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and was baptized on September 7, 2006, by Pastor Carl Tenney at the Volga River. Steve always said that he was very fortunate to be able to work in areas that he thoroughly enjoyed, farming and auto repair. He was a very skilled auto mechanic and enjoyed finding new ways to fix things. Steve also enjoyed being involved at the Fayette Community Church, reading, but most especially enjoyed time spent with his family.

In addition to his wife, Carol of Fayette, Steve is survived by his four children, Angie (Roy) Smith of Kanawha, Kevin Niles of Independence, Amy (Kevin) Murphy of Oelwein, and Joe (Kelly) Niles of Manchester; seven grandchildren, Heather (Tim) Finley, Sonya Gordon, Ashley Murphy, Tyler Murphy, Alex (Sue) Eaton, Kennedy Niles, and Sam Niles; two great-grandchildren, Ronald and Rickie Finley; two brothers, Jim (Myrna) Niles of Sumner, and Paul Niles of Wadena; two sisters, Linda (Len) Zody of Merriam, Kansas, and Janet (Bruce) Orr of Randalia; many nieces and nephews; and three sisters-in-law, Bonnie Kline of Fayette, Mabel (Frank) Garcia of Oelwein, and Becky (Bruce) Ingersoll of Fayette.

He was preceded in death by his parents, and several in-laws.