Charles W. Babcock

Charles Witten Babcock, 90, bank executive, passed away on April 28, 2004. Services will be held at John Knox Kirk Presbyterian Church, 11430 Wornall Rd., Kansas City, MO 64114, on Monday, May 3, 2004, at 11 a.m., the Reverend Clayton Cook officiating. Visitation will be 10-11 a.m. Monday prior to service. Burial with full military honors will be at Mount Moriah Cemetery, 10507 Holmes Rd., in Kansas City, MO. The family requests no flowers. Any donations may be made to John Knox Kirk. Mr. Babcock was born in Hickman Mills, MO, on November 24, 1913. His father and grandfather farmed land now part of Ruskin Heights. He attended elementary school in Hickman Mills, Ruskin High and then Central High School in Kansas City. He graduated from Kansas City Junior College in 1933 and the University of Kansas in 1935, with a major in business (finance). In September 1937, he married the former Esther Louise Marcy, who, after their marriage of nearly 66 years, passed away in August 2003. Before World War II, Mr. Babcock was the superintendent of a chemical plant in Kansas City. In 1942, he was commissioned in the United States Navy, trained at Harvard, Princeton, and Pearl Harbor, HI, and then served in both the Guadalcanal and Okinawa campaigns as a top secret communications officer. After the war, Mr. Babcock and his father purchased the Butler, MO, State Bank. He served there for 32 years, as the bank's president and later chairman, remaining on its Board until 1993. Mr. Babcock served as a director of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce, Governor of District 607 of Rotary International, District Vice President of the American Bankers Association for Missouri, and as an Advisory Director of Research Medical Center, Kansas City. He was a member of the Native Sons of Kansas City and an elder in the Presbyterian Church. During his years in Bates County, Mr. Babcock served as a member and president of the Butler Chamber of Commerce, the Butler Planning Commission, the Butler Airport Commission, Chair of the Bates County Boy Scouts, President and Board Member of the Board of Education, the Welfare Commission, and Red Cross Fund Chairman. He is survived by his sister, Margaret Morgan of Concordia, KS; three sons, Charles W. Babcock, Jr., of West Chester, PA, Gaylon W. Babcock of Half Moon Bay, CA, and Mark R. Babcock of Roeland Park, KS, and their families, including seven grandchildren. (Arrangements: Mt. Moriah & Freeman Funeral Home, 816-942-2004)