Lalita Liza Miles

Born Lauretta Elizabeth Gonzales, known to many of us as Lalita Liza was born on December 23rd, 1961. She was born in Salem, Oregon to her mother, Lauretta Whitney and father, Ben Gonzales. Her mother nicknamed her Squeaky because she could vocalize in high pitch, and it stuck. She was raised alongside siblings, Steven, Dianne, Alta, Linda and Ben. Through an Ancestry service, Lalita met another sister, Brenda, who Lalita became close with. Lalita mostly lived in the state of Oregon. Lalita and Bob were married for 29 ½ years on July 13th, 1996, in Portland.

Lalita attended Milwaukie High School and had her daughter, Kristal Renee in 1981. Lalita attended a cosmetology school and became a licensed beautician and cosmetologist. She practiced hairdressing in the Portland Metropolitan area from 1982 onwards. Lalita helped with the start and management of a specialty kids salon in Lake Oswego for roughly 10 years. Because of her love for people, she never really retired but moved her services to a private space inside her home, in order to take care of her mother. Lalita felt that her haircuts were her way of blessing people and offered them to pay as they could or at no charge.

Lalita enjoyed many things. She was artistic and painted in her early years, then moved onto cross-stitching and knitting. She always considered haircutting as a form of art too. Lalita tremendously enjoyed RV camping along the coast, her many friendships, helping others out with numerous projects, and at times, very personal caretaking. Family gatherings and making memories over dinners and games of cards were very important to her. Lalita was always very close to and prioritized her daughter, Kristal and grandson, Casey.

Lalita is survived by her husband, Bob Miles; daughter, Kristal Reed with her son-in-law, Josh; grandson, Casey Diaz; and many extended family members whom she loved very much.

Lalita ascended into our Lord’s presence at 10:50am in her home, on Friday, February 20th, 2026.