Charles Carson Foster Jr.

Charles Carson Foster, Jr. was born December 7, 1922, in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and died April 14, 2022, in Dallas, Texas. He and his siblings, Dorothy Foster Laxton and Philip Foster, grew up in and around Wilkesboro and Paducah, Kentucky.

In 1942, Charles joined the Army Air Corps (later known as the Air Force) and became a flight instructor. He worked his way up through the ranks at postings all around the world, serving during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. He retired as a Major and seemed to most enjoy the time he spent posted in Japan as World War II ended.

He married Eleanor Griggs in Paducah, Kentucky, in 1943. They moved among Air Force bases and had four children: Diane, Lisa, Sandra, and Michael. They were married 27 years before they divorced and Eleanor and their children relocated to Phoenix, Arizona.

As a young man, Charles played on various baseball teams as a standout right fielder. While living in Georgia and North Carolina, his team would often play professional clubs on their way to spring training in Florida. After a game against the New York Yankees, the traveling manager asked the coach of the amateur team about hiring Charles. The coach told him he’d be wasting his time, as Chuck had his own construction business and wouldn’t dream of leaving it. Charles was also an active and successful bowler, notching several perfect games and cherishing a bowling trophy that held a place of honor in his dining room for decades.

While stationed at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey, he met Barbara Haines, who was employed through the Defense Department teaching the American children of military families overseas. They married when they both returned to the United States. Shortly after, he retired from the Air Force and the couple settled in Moultrie, Georgia, where he ran a construction company with his uncle. During this time, the couple had one child, Katy.

In 1976, the three moved to the Haines family farm in Follett, Texas. There, the couple kept busy with chores on the farm and assisting Barbara’s brother Donald Haines in raising cattle and growing wheat. Both Charles and Barbara became very involved with their church, the Follett Chapel, where he was Sunday School Superintendent for a period. They remained in Follett until 2020, when they relocated to a memory care facility in Dallas, where their daughter Katy resides. Charles and Barbara had been married for 52 years when Barbara died, just six weeks before Charles himself passed away.

Charles was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Carson Foster, Sr. and Elizabeth Shore Foster; his sister, Dorothy Laxton; his first wife, Eleanor; grandchild Luis Valentin Chavez III; his great-grandchild Ashley Taylor; and his wife Barbara Haines Foster. He is survived by his brother, Philip Foster (Susan), of Port Byron, Illinois; his children Diane Chavez of Lawton, Oklahoma, Lisa Van Wormer of Roy, Utah, Sandra Williams (Russell) of Prescott Valley, Arizona, Michael Foster of Phoenix, Arizona, and Katy Foster Richardson of Dallas; grandchildren Matthew Van Wormer (Cheyenne), Angela Kroeger, Heather Jones, and William and Andrew Richardson; seven great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Memorial Service & Celebration of Charle's Life will be held on Saturday, May 14, 2022 at 2:00 PM at the Ted Dickey Funeral Home, located at 2128 18th Street, Plano, Texas 75074.

Following the service, a reception will be held, also at the Ted Dickey Funeral Home.