Dr. Charles Samuel Bartlett Jr.

Dr. Charles (Charlie) Samuel Bartlett, Jr, PHD, of Abingdon, VA died peacefully on Sunday, September 12, 2021 in Cary, NC. Charles was born on Sunday, October 20, 1929 in Asheville, NC. He was the son of the late Charles Samuel Bartlett and Frances Weaver Bartlett. Dr. Bartlett had three wonderful adoring sisters, Beverly Bartlett Carlman, Barbara Bartlett Foster, and Elisabeth ”Betsy” Bartlett Beeman. Charles married Sara Jean Schaefer of Southern Pines, NC in the summer of 1951 after they both graduated from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.

Charlie was preceded in death by his wife, Jean, and daughter, Katherine (“Kathy”) Ann Kukor (Rick) of Winnabow, NC, and is survived by daughter, Linda Bartlett Moore (Timothy) of Cary, NC; four grandchildren, Sarah Margaret Schroeter (Joel), Brian Bartlett Moore, Barbara Kukor Perkins (Mitch), Kelsey Jordan Kukor; one great granddaughter, Eva Margaret Schroeter; and sister, Barbara Foster (“Bob”).

Dr. Bartlett had many different names to those that knew him. He could have been called “Charles”, “Charlie”, “Sonny”, “Brother”, “Bubba”, “Papa”, “Dr. Rocks” and sometimes “**##??!!!” by all of us during differences of opinion.

At age 4, Charlie relocated and spent his childhood with his family in Chapel Hill, NC. He was very active in the Boy Scouts of America earning the rank of Eagle Scout and Eagle Scout for Life. In July and August of 1947, Charlie attended the “Boy Scout World Jamboree” near Paris, France. He attended Chapel Hill High School where he was on the staff of the school newspaper as a writer, played football, and was a member of the school swim team.

His first choice for college was The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he majored in geology and was a member of the swim team. In his senior year, Charlie was awarded the “ALGERNON SYDNEY SULLIVAN AWARD”. This award is bestowed annually by the University of North Carolina upon one man and one woman of the senior class who have best demonstrated unselfish interest in human welfare. The emphasis of the award is on humanitarian contributions.

After college, Dr. Bartlett joined the United States Navy where he served as a Naval Intelligence Officer during the Korean War aboard the aircraft carrier USS Valley Forge. After departing the Navy, Charlie worked as a field geologist in the gas and oil industry living in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The late 1960’s found Charlie back in school getting his master’s degree in geology at the University of North Carolina. Soon, he was teaching geology at Emory and Henry College in Southwest Virginia near Abingdon, and while teaching he went to the University of Tennessee, where he earned his PHD degree. Dr. Bartlett taught geology at Emory and Henry College from 1967 until 1979 when he opened his new business as a consulting oil and gas geologist.

Dr. Bartlett traveled the globe as a geologist and archeologist and spent time on every single continent including Antarctica. He discovered one of the largest natural gas fields in the United States in western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma. Through the years, he was a friend and donor to Emory and Henry College and later a proud donor of his farm property near Glade Spring that would become the Bartlett-Crowe Field Station for the college. Dr. Bartlett was an avid archeologist, giving much time and sharing his wealth of knowledge about the Native Americans who once roamed Southwest Virginia as a member of the Wolf Hills Chapter of the Archeological Society of Virginia. He was also instrumental in the exploration of the Saltville paleontology dig and the establishment of Saltville’s Museum of the Middle Appalachians. In 1978, the remains of thirty-four fossilized musk oxen were discovered by Dr. Charles S. Bartlett Jr. in an excavation.

From a young age and encouraged by his mother, Charlie was a collector of stamps from all countries of the world. He was a member of the Holston Stamp Club, and had an extensive collection in dozens of stamp binders that he had purchased, traded for, or pulled off old envelopes. It was truly a passion he embraced his entire life.

Charles was an active member of St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Abingdon and Christ Episcopal Church, Marion, Virginia, and a very active citizen in his community for over 60 years. But, he was still a proud Tar Heel all his days.

Charlie was happiest spending time with a cup of coffee and a friend with whom to talk about stamps, arrowheads, pottery, mastodons, and the ancient peoples that walked this earth and would be honored for you to do the same in his memory.

If you feel compelled to spend your hard-earned money to honor his memory, the family asks in lieu of sending flowers, that donations be sent in memory of Dr. Charles S. Bartlett, The Dementia Society of America, P.O. Box 600, Doylestown, PA 18901 or online at dementiasociety.org/donate.

A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, September 22nd at 10:30 am at Mount Hope Cemetery, 405 W Morganton Rd, Southern Pines, NC 28387.

A celebration of his life and memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 10th at 3 pm at St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Abingdon, 124 E Main St, Abingdon, VA. This service will be available on livestream at facebook.com/stthomasepiscopalchurchabingdonva/live.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at brownwynnecary.com for the Bartlett family.