Charles Edward Hawthorne, age 90 passed away August 1, 2014 from pulmonary
complications following knee replacement surgery.
A 1943 graduate of Riverside Military Academy in
Gainesville, GA., Charles immediately enlisted in the Army Air Corps and
participated in 49 missions as a tail gunner on a B-25 over Italy and Germany.
Shortly before he shipped out, he married his grade school sweetheart,
Grace Brown, of Winter Garden. At the
conclusion of World War II, he and Grace moved to Gainesville where he
completed a BS in Agriculture under the GI Bill, graduating in 1949.
Returning to West Orange he began operating a citrus
management company and acquired properties with opportunities to grow
citrus. Before the freezes of 1983, 1985
and 1989 his company managed over 7,000 acres of citrus being harvested for
juice and fresh fruit. Still desiring to
be involved with horticulture he embarked into ornamental plants starting
CharleStan Landscaping Nursery in Winter Garden and on the family homestead. He loved
nurturing his plants and worked at the nursery until he was 88.
He served on the board of Florida Citrus Mutual and had a
call in radio show relating to citrus management. In addition he was active in Lion's Club
International and the Winter Garden Baptist Church.
Retirement included traveling the US, Canada, Europe, Asia
and Africa. Charles and Grace celebrated
52 years of marriage before she passed away in 1997. He subsequently met Alice Hoelzer of Deland
Traverse City, Michigan on a Farm Bureau Tour of the Netherlands in 1998. They
married in 2000 and moved to King's Ridge, an active adult community in
Clermont. This served as their base for
exploring the globe. Even with the
constraints of Alzheimer's they were able to take a Road Scholar trip to
Chincoteague Island in May and explore the art museums in St. Petersburg and
Tampa in June.
Charles was predeceased by his oldest child, Gretchen, in
1994. His descendants include sons,
Chuck (Louise) and Stan (Sherri) of Windermere, Florida, 6 Grandsons, 4
Granddaughters, 13 Great Grandsons, 5 Great Granddaughters and 3 babies
expected later this year. He was also
predeceased by his older brother, James and his younger siblings, Betty
(Shuman) and William.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Mike Conley
Hospice House of Cornerstone Hospice, the Alzheimer's Foundation, the Winter
Garden Heritage Foundation, Oakland Nature Preserve or a charity of your
choice.
A Celebration of Life will be held at Oakland Presbyterian
Church on Saturday, August 9th at 11:00 am.
Professional Arrangements by Dobbs Funeral Home, 407-578-7720
3 comments:
Chuck I want to extend my condolences for the loss of your father. I found out at one of the large LHS Reunions that he was a lakeview grad. I think it was a couple of years ago. I know he did a lot for LHS athletics and as an athlete I really appreciate what he did. He got us real quality coaches in Heckman, Giannamore, and Lopo!! Coach Craig was a very good basketball coach and I know your dad had a hand in getting them to LHS. We have each loss a father, mother and a sibling, so I know how it feels.
I am sorry for your loss please accept my deepest sympathy. I hope you will find your strength and comfort in Jesus promises of the earthly resurrection(:Acts 24:15) and the renewed Paradise earth, where death will be no more and no family will have to mourn the death of a loved one.-Revelation 21:3,4; Luke 23:43. May GOD(Psalms 83:18) grant you peace and comfort now during this grievous time.-Matthew 5:4.
Our prayers are with your family during this time of grief. Losing a parent is hard at any age. May you gain comfort and strength from the Scriptures. John 5:28,29 says that Jesus will resurrect the dead in the future, so we can enjoy their company once again here on a paradise earth. I hope you find that comforting.
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