Charlie Homer Kerby

KERBY -- Charlie Homer, 85, departed this life on Sunday, September 18, 2005, at his Tulsa home as the result of complications from Alzheimer's disease. Born October 5, 1919 in White County, TN, Charlie was the son of a sharecropper (one of five children) who lived in Cove City, Crawford County, AR, during the Great Depression years. Charlie told of making railroad cross ties by hand to pay for setting up housekeeping, when he married Ruth Russell of Natural Dam, AR, in 1936. The couple moved to Tulsa in 1942. Charlie worked for the Mid Continent Refinery and for various manufacturers of oil field equipment. Later in his career, he was a Quality Control Inspector for engineering firms, spending two years on assignment in Japan before his retirement. Charlie and Ruth were married for 56 years before her death in 1992. He later remarried to life-long family friend, Mary (Betty) Lee in 1994. A fun-loving, people-person, Charlie was a craftsman in steel and wood, and was Mr. Fix-it for a host of friends and family members over the years. Many extended family members recall staying with the Kerbys for weeks or months during transition times or when they needed a helping hand. Charlie was dedicated to his church throughout his lifetime until being stricken with Alzheimer's Disease in 1997. He is survived by: his wife, Betty; a son, Jim and his wife, Mary; a daughter, Norma and her husband, Dan Collins; a brother, J.T. Kerby of Tulsa; a sister, Mamie Jones of Susanville, CA; six grandchildren; 16 great-grandchildren; four great-great-grandchildren; and innumerable friends. Funeral service is scheduled for 10 a.m., Wednesday, September 21, at Woodlake Assembly of God Church in Tulsa with interment at Floral Haven Cemetery. In lieu of flowers friends are invited to contribute to the Alzheimer's Association. Hayhurst, 258-9623