Charles Ellry Durrett Sr.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Ellion Ellry Durrett and Francis Rogers Durrett, his beloved wife, Margaret (Pat) Logston Durrett and his son, Charles Ellry Durrett, Jr.

Charles is survived by his children David E. Durrett and wife Kay, Paul Duane Durrett and Margaret Ann Cook and husband Nick; grandchildren Stephanie, David M., James, Andrew, Ben and Jack; great grandchildren David I., Gavin, Drake, Danielle, Ty, Conor and Maggie.

Charles moved to El Dorado, Arkansas with his family in 1935 where he would spend his childhood. Charles was baptized at First Baptist Church, El Dorado, Arkansas in 1940. Charles graduated from El Dorado High School in 1950.

He attended the University of Mississippi 1950-1951 and then transferred to Oklahoma A&M (now Oklahoma State). He graduated with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1955. He was a 1st Lt. in the ROTC. He also served as President of the Acacia Fraternity from 1953 to 1954.

It was at Oklahoma State that he met his wife of 61 Years. They were married on September 4th, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama. Charles would eventually lose his beloved wife in December of 2015 to cancer.

Charles went to work at Carrier right out of college and excelled as an application engineer, living in Dallas, New Orleans, Syracuse, San Antonio and finally Houston in 1966. In 1971 he began his final job at I.A. Naman + Associates where he would eventually retire 32 years later as Executive Vice President. Charles left his mark on the Houston skyline as the engineer of record on many multi-story buildings. He was a registered Professional Engineer in Texas and Oklahoma. He was known to some of his co workers and clients as “Charlie”.

While Charles was very successful as an engineer, he was also a dedicated husband, father and grandfather. He found great joy in spending time with his children and later his grandchildren. He was never too busy to spend time, give advice or just listen.

Charles will be missed by all who knew and loved him.

Visitation will be held on December 11, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. at Cy-Fair Christian Church located at 9730 Grant Road, Houston, Texas 77070. The funeral service will follow at 11:00 a.m. and will also be live streamed at www.youtube.com/c/CyFairChristianChurch. The family will attend the burial later that afternoon. Charles will be laid to rest at Memorial Oaks Cemetery next to his wife and oldest son. The family extends a special thank you to the caring employees at Spring Cypress Senior Living. They were not only his caregivers and nurses but became his friends. Thanks also to the hospice nurses who were there in his final days.

Charles’s wife was a big supporter of charities and special causes and Charles would want to please her by asking that in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the charity of your choice.