Charles Merlin Umpenhour

CHARLES MERLIN UMPENHOUR, age 72 years, a resident of Elkins, West Virginia, departed this life Tuesday evening, December 13, 2005 at Colonial Place. He had been in declining health. He was born Wednesday, September 6, 1933 at Ohio, and raised at Queens, Long Island New York, a son of the late Earl Wesley Umpenhour and Kathleen Abrams Umpenhour. He was married to the former Betty Jean Barkley, who survives at Elkins. They had celebrated fifty years of marriage. Also surviving are two sons; Robert Dale Umpenhour of Utah, and Charles S. Umpenhour and wife, Jamie, Fredericksburg, Virginia, one adopted daughter; Amirra Umpenhour, four grandsons; Seth, Andrew, David, and Benjamin Umpenhour, one granddaughter; Elizabeth Umpenhour, one brother, John Umpenhour and wife, Alice, Palm Coast, Florida, one half-brother; Donald Deis, Jonesboro, Arkansas, one sister; Jane Field and husband, Howard, Charlotte, North Carolina, and several nieces and nephews. Charles attended the city public schools of Queens and graduated from Newtown High School in 1951. He then graduated from Davis and Elkins College in 1955 with a Bachelor of Science in mathematics and biology. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. This military service provided him with training in Meteorology at Texas A&M College, a profession he has pursued since 1957. After almost eight years on active duty as an Air Force Weather Officer, he accepted a position as an industrial meteorologist at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1963. Four years later, Charles became an advisory forecaster for the Department of Defense, forecasting severe weather affecting over five hundred military operations across the United States while supervising a small team of forecasters. While involved in this endeavor, he was awarded the Bronze Pride Award for his contribution to the knowledge of meteorology forecasting techniques. In 1969, he accepted employment as the morning meteorologist at KOA Radio and Television in Denver, Colorado, broadcasting weather forecasts and warnings over a 50,000-radio station, in support of metropolitan and agribusiness weather needs. Charles became involved in teaching meteorology at Metropolitan State College and was instrumental in developing a Bachelor of Science Degree in Meteorology there. In 1979, he became the evening meteorologist at WTOL-TV, Toledo, Ohio until retiring in 1994. He also taught courses for the University of Toledo and accepted an Associate Professorship at Davis College, Toledo. Charles has an M.A. from the University of Colorado in Environmental Sciences where he also did work in climate change. In 1990, he completed the Doctorate program without a dissertation in Education Psychology with a focus on cognitive development and decision-making. Upon retiring from the Air Force Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1978, he was presented with the Spengler Award for his contributions to the Air Weather Service program for outstanding service and contributions. These life�s experiences led him to prepare and teach courses in Psychology, Social Psychology, Values and Ethics, Thinking Strategies for Problem Solving, and Geography as a geopolitical science focused on the social, political, and economic aspects of the behavior of societies. From this came a questioning awareness of why societies develop as they have and a need to define what forces act together to shape the character and nature of their culture. Charles is the recent author of �Freedom, A Fading Illusion�. He will be sadly missed by his friends and loved ones. The family will receive friends at the Lohr & Barb Funeral Home of Elkins on Thursday from 6 to 8 PM. Final rites will be conducted from the funeral home chapel on Friday, December 16, 2005 at 11 AM. Evangelist Gary L. Kendall, Sr. will officiate and interment will follow at the Maplewood Cemetery at Elkins where members of the H. W. Daniel�s Post # 29, American Legion and the Tygarts Valley Post # 3647, Veterans of Foreign Wars will conduct full military rites.. The Lohr & Barb Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements for CHARLES MERLIN UMPENHOUR. Condolences may be expressed to the family at www.lohrbarbfuneralhome.com.