Charles N. King, born to the late Clarence and Margaret King in Shelby, NC on Oct 22, 1935, passed the surly bonds of this planet on Monday, January 21, 2019. (His dad, C.M. King, was Mayor of Shelby in the mid 1950’s and was also instrumental in the founding of The Henderson County Technical Institute, Flat Rock, NC in 1969, now known as Blue Ridge Community College). Charles served as a Marine in the Korean War, played football at Gardner Webb College and then graduated from the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, OK to become a certified airplane mechanic.
There he met and married the late Betty A. Bunch and shortly after, moved to NC where he landed a job in Winston-Salem at Piedmont Airlines in 1959. There, he was part of the maintenance team that ushered in the jet-age to NC and to the city’s that Piedmont served. He held various positions including Inspector, Maintenance Controller, Line Foreman, Technical Services and then became the Manager of Aircraft Maintenance, having relocated to Charlotte, NC in the mid ‘80’s where Piedmont begin service to London with Boeing 767’s.
He retired in 1990 and moved to Brevard, NC where he honed his passion for gardening and then later moved to Anderson, SC, continuing with his gardening up until 2017 while helping his son Bruce build a house near York SC. He moved to Mt Pleasant, SC in 2017 and then to Charleston, SC in 2018, to be near one of his sons and have access to excellent health care after a cancer diagnosis. He is survived by his three children, Doug King of St. Petersburg, FL, Bruce King (Donna) of Mt.
Pleasant, SC, Mary King Porter (Matt) of Cartersville, GA. and by two grandchildren; Rachel Butler of Atlanta, GA and Kevin Butler of Cartersville, GA. He loved to spend time with his dear friend Mary Rowland in Anderson SC along with her family including granddaughter Brandi Manley and her children Cally Simpson and Jacey Manley.
Also his friend and neighbor John Solon in Anderson SC who also has family in the Charleston area where they would meet to sample some fine seafood. Services are being planned soon at the MJ “Dolly” Cooper Veterans Cemetery in Anderson SC. To send flowers or a memorial gift to the family of Charles Norman King please visit our Sympathy Store.
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