CHARLES E. CHILDS, age 88, passed away Thursday, June 10, 2010, 4:15 am, at Saint Anne Home, Fort Wayne, IN.

He was the father of Churubusco funeral director C. Gregory Childs and a widely acquainted Gaston businessman and community leader. Born July 1, 1921, in Matthews, he was the youngest of 11 children and the son of the late Oliver Morton and Junietta Ruth (Morris) Childs. He spent his formative years in that community, and graduated from Jefferson Township High School in 1939. Upon his graduation he worked for a period in a grocery store and meat market in Muncie, IN and on his 21 birthday, was inducted into the U.S. Army during World War II. He served as an enlisted man, Private 1st Class, Corporal, Sergeant, and Staff Sergeant. Initially discharged in Germany at the conclusion of the war, he was inducted back into the US Army and received a battlefield commission upon the recommendation and under the command of General George S. Patton Jr., and by an Act of Congress. Serving in the European Theater and in the Battle of Germany, he was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service. On Sept. 9, 1945, he married Barbara Ann Rench, in Gaston. The couple lived in Columbia, SC for a period and following his military discharge in 1946, moved to Gaston where they spent all of their adult lives. As a young man, he joined his father-in-law, A. M. Rench, in the family's lumber and hardware business in Gaston. Along with his wife, the couple owned and operated the former Gaston-Rench Lumber Company, Gaston for over 40 years until his retirement in 1990. In addition to his family and business concerns, his life was marked by active participation in church and community affairs. He was a member of Gaston United Methodist Church, where he had held a plethora of administrative positions, taught Church School, and sang in its Chancel Choir. He was a member of Matthews Lodge 650 F&AM, Purity Order of the Eastern Star 126, in Hartford City, and had been an active volunteer in a variety of civic activities throughout his adult life. In 1980, he and his wife were honored as the "Gaston Citizen of the Year". At that celebration he said, "The Lord has run my life far better than I could have. I say it, I believe it, and I try to live by it. I am far the richer, and I know the happier, for it." In his leisure time, he found joy in lawn work, dining out, church activities, spending occasional weekends at Epworth Forest, and supporting Gaston and Wes-Del athletic teams. "Most of all he will be remembered as a patient man who never raised his voice, and was a loving husband, father, grandfather and a friend to many."

Surviving are his son and daughter-in-law, a brother, a sister, and three grandsons.

He was also preceded in death by his wife, Barbara on Nov. 14, 2008; four brothers, Earl O. W. Childs, Herman L. Childs, LD Childs, and O. Morris Childs; and four sisters, infants Neva and Nina Childs, Delight Gadbury, and Elizabeth Losh.

Funeral service is 3 pm Sunday, June 13, 2010, at Gaston United Methodist Church, with calling two hours prior to service. The Rev. John Long officiating. The family will also receive friends from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday at Sheets & Childs Funeral Home, Churubusco. Interment in Thompson Cemetery, west of Gaston. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be directed to Gaston United Methodist Church, 107 N. Main Street, Gaston, IN 47342; or Taylor University Department of Music, 236 W. Reade Avenue, Upland, IN 46989. [Unknown Fort Wayne newspaper, June 11, 2010]