STATESBORO, Ga. -- Charles F. Wooke, 89, passed away on October 4, 2024, at East Georgia Regional Medical Center in Statesboro, GA.
Charles was born on March 11, 1935, in Tamaqua, Pennsylvania, to Edward K. and Thelma H. Wooke. In 1941, he moved with his parents to Warren, Ohio. In Warren, he attended Dickey Avenue Elementary, West Junior and Warren G. Harding High School, where he graduated in 1952.
After high school, Charles served four years active duty in the U.S. Air Force, which included three years with occupation forces in Germany, where he attained the rank of Staff Sergeant. He assumed reserve status in 1956, when he was enrolled at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. At KSU, he was a member of the Delta Upsilon Fraternity and was elected its president in his senior year. He graduated from Kent in 1960 with Bachelor of Arts degree.
After college, Charles was accepted in the Air Force OTS program, located at Lackland AFB, Texas. He graduated from OTS in 1962 and was commissioned a second lieutenant.
Charles earned aviator wings in 1962 and in subsequent years, flew as a navigator in C-130s, C-141s and WC-135s while stationed at Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina. In 1971, after a three-year tour as a staff officer at RAF Alconbury, England, he was assigned to a combat flying unit at Tan Son Nhut AB, in Saigon, Vietnam. During his tour, Charles flew 106 low-level combat missions over south Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, flying EC-47 aircraft, configured for electronic surveillance. Among his many awards were the Air Force Flying Cross, the Bronze Star and an AF Commendation Medal.
He returned from Southeast Asia in 1972 and was assigned to McClellan AFB in Sacramento, California. Duties at McClellan, in addition to flying weather reconnaissance missions in WC-135s, he served as wing command post controller and executive officer to the wing commander. He served in regular officer status through 1979, when he retired as a lieutenant colonel after 22 years of active service.
While at McClellan, Charles met the former Patricia Barefoot Taylor, and they were married in 1975. Patricia was born in Florence, S.C., but grew up in Great Bridge, Virginia.
After his retirement, Charles and Patricia formed an accounting and tax practice in Sacramento. They sold the business in 1990 and moved to Tucson, Arizona, where Charles became an avid golfer and Patricia became an accomplished quilter.
After Arizona, they moved to Augusta, Georgia, as well as Melbourne, Florida, but ultimately settled in Statesboro, Georgia. He was a member at one time of Forest Heights Country Club.
Charles is survived by his wife, Patricia; sons, Charles Brant Wooke (Tuesday) of Tucson, Arizona; and William B. Wooke (Paula) of Montgomery, Ala.; daughter, Elizabeth Ann Wooke of Santa Monica, California; sister, Lorraine Peterson of San Antonio, Texas; three grandchildren, Zachary Kennedy-Wooke (Katherine), Levi Wooke and Kara Wooke; and one great-grandson, Leonard.
He is preceded in death by his sister, Joan T. Whiteleather, formerly of Warren, Ohio; and brother, Edward K. Wooke Jr. of Cumming, Georgia.
A service will be held in his honor at Bulloch Memorial Gardens, 22002 U.S. Highway 80, Statesboro, GA 30459, on Sunday, October 13, 2024, at 2 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a tax-free donation to: The Foundation at Bethany, 77 Bethany Way, Statesboro, Georgia 30458, in his memory.
Statesboro Herald, October 10, 2024
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