Charles Mallory Dettor

Charles was born in Oxford, Mississippi in 1931 and was raised in Sardis, Mississippi. He graduated from the University of Mississippi with Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and continued his formal education with a Master of Science from the School of Medicine and Dentistry of the University of Rochester. He matriculated with a PhD in Radiation Biology from Colorado State University. He sought out other educational opportunities throughout his life, including licenses for Ham Radio, Coast Guard Captain, and as a Single-Engine Land Private Pilot. He also completed certifications in celestial navigation and scuba diving.

Charles served 30 years in the U.S. Army Medical Service Corps, retiring as a Colonel (06). He completed the Senior Executive Management program and served as the Army representative for the NATO Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development. His final military posting was Director, U.S. Army Medical Bioengineering Research and Development Laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland.

While on military assignment in Texas, the Dettor family began sailing. Over 40 years, beginning on Canyon Lake in Texas, the family’s sailing adventures took them to Horseshoe Reservoir in Colorado, San Francisco Bay and Monterey, California, and the Chesapeake Bay.

Upon retirement from the U.S. Army, Charles, wife Ruth, and twin daughters Kirsten and Karrin, moved aboard their a 38’ sloop, Nereid, to explore the beautiful waters of the Caribbean, from the Virgin Islands to Martinique, Puerto Rico to the Dominican Republic, through the Bahamas, and then riding the gulf stream back to New Bern, North Carolina.

Charles and Ruth built a house in New Bern and Charles started a second career at Pitt Community College, first as an instructor, then as Dean of Curriculum Programs. Charles retired at age 60, and the next day, he and Ruth moved onto their 46’ steel cutter-rigged ketch, the Mattie Christian. With a few trips up and down the Intercoastal Waterway and into the Bahamas, the couple was ready for a bigger adventure. June 1993, they headed across the Atlantic. 35 days later, without an engine for 33 of those days, the couple made landfall in Falmouth, England. Having now met the requirements, Charles and Ruth were nominated as Commodores in the Seven Seas Cruising Association and continued full time, blue-water cruising in Europe and beyond for the next 11 years.

The couple sailed to ports in the British Isles, the North and Baltic Seas and Gulf of Finland, the Channel Islands, Spain, Portugal, and Italy. They navigated the Mediterranean Sea and made inland trips to Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic, Belgium, then on to Africa for a safari. Land travels carried them from Tanzania to Cape Town, South Africa and back, including a visit to the Zanzibar Archipelago, “The Spice Islands.” Charles and Ruth gathered their sea legs once again to explore the Greek waters and the beautiful Croatian Islands, with trips to Bosnia, Serbia, and Montenegro.

Charles’ love for traveling didn’t stop. Charles and Ruth made it to all 50 states, all 7 continents, from Antarctica to the Arctic Circle. Charles had many hobbies including hang-gliding, Habitat for Humanity and Presbyterian Disaster Relief, caning chairs, and being with family. Charles was a volunteer fireman in Bridgeton, N.C., and a counselor at the Retired Activities Office at Cherry Point Marine Corps Station. He dressed up as a Character Ambassador for the New Bern Tourist Bureau, a Docent at the New Bern Academy, and an Elder at First Presbyterian Church. At Searstone, Charles was actively involved in resident committees, a Searstone Ambassador, and participated in Senior Games, winning gold in shuffleboard, corn hole, and horseshoes. Several times a week he visited with the residents at Brittany Place, the Nursing Center at Searstone.

Charles was preceded in death by his father, Charlie Shaw Dettor, his mother, Pattie Partee Johnson Dettor, and sister, Rubye Dettor Hill. He is survived by his wife of 58 years, Ruth, daughters Kirsten Petree of Falls Church, Va., and Karrin Quinn of Cary, N.C., grandchildren Nolan Quinn of Raleigh, N.C., Neal Quinn of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Ella Petree of Falls Church, Va., sister Georgie Frances Dettor Bryant of Sardis, Miss., and a great group of nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Funeral services will be held at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C., at a later date. Please contact the family if you would like notification of the date when it has been scheduled. Remembrances can be directed to the Searstone Endowment Fund, Kirk of Kildaire Presbyterian Church of Cary and Transitions Hospice Care. For additional information on the tax-deductible fund for Searstone Endowment Fund, please contact: Joan DeBruin at 910-673-5696 or [email protected].