Charles Crawford Mills Jr.

1922 - 2024

Charles Crawford Mills, Jr.

September 30, 1922 - April 17, 2024

Charlotte, North Carolina - Who wouldn't want the first paragraph of their obituary to read like so? Charlie Mills passed away unexpectedly at home the day after getting a clean bill of health from his doctor along with a set of exercises to do. After his exam, he went grocery shopping because he loved cooking for his wife, Penny. Charles Crawford Mills Jr. was 101.

The second paragraph is just as divine. Charlie had no regrets. He was a World War II hero. He served his church, was proud of his career in the tire business and told most everyone he met about the day Penny had a hole in one. Penny, to whom he was married for 70 years, was the absolute love of his life.

Charlie's family doesn't know what took him on April 17, 2024, perhaps a heart attack. Is it possible to mourn his death while rejoicing in the long, beautiful life God gave this dear man?

Yes, it is.

Charlie was born on Sept. 30, 1922, in rural Stony Point in Iredell County. In 1942, at age 20, he was drafted and assigned to the U.S. Army Air Corps. Though he had never flown, World War II changed that. He flew 41 missions as a turret gunner and flight engineer, including one in which his crew flew into the Battle of the Bulge to support U.S. troops fighting the Germans. When some live bombs got stuck, Charlie "unstuck" them by climbing onto a narrow catwalk, picking up the bombs and dropping them himself. He came home unscathed. His modesty led him to keep his heroics to himself.

After he was discharged in 1945, Charlie returned to North Carolina and went to work for B.F. Goodrich. The life every member of the Greatest Generation deserved was falling into place. In 1953, a work colleague set him up on a blind date. Charlie and Lorene Davidson were married on Sept. 6, 1953. She didn't like her first name so Charlie and most everyone gladly called her Penny. To say they lived happily ever after was an understatement.

When Penny, who turns 100 on Sept. 25, began suffering from dementia, Charlie became a hero of a different kind. There would be no assisted living. They remained in their home off Albemarle Road, where he tended to her every need with no qualms. He shopped for groceries at the nearby Walmart two or three times a week. She loved his meat loaf. For breakfast, he spoiled her with half a muffin topped with vanilla ice cream. At the end of another day together – their next anniversary would have been their 71st – he put her to bed.

Charlie was humbled to have neighbors drop in, deliver meals and handle chores, saints like Steve and Michelle Levine, Sonny Seitz and Stephanie Polonyfus. But this was his Penny, the one with whom he regularly shared this exchange.

"I love you," she'd say.

"I love you more," he'd respond.

Charlie is survived by his wife, Lorene "Penny" Davidson Mills. The family decided not to tell her. This was a heartbreak she didn't need. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Elsie Mills, and his three sisters, Julia Bennett, Jane Worley and Annette Boyd.

A service to celebrate his life will be at 2:00 PM on Thursday, April 25, 2024, at Amity Presbyterian Church, 2831 N. Sharon Amity Road, Charlotte. The family will receive friends following the service at the church. The service will be livestreamed at: https://www.facebook.com/amitypresbyterian for those unable to attend in person.

A gift in his memory can be made to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 2101 Rexford Road, No. 165W, Charlotte, NC 28211 (www.stjude.org); Shriner's Children, 950 W. Faris Rd., Greenville, SC 29605 (www.shrinerschildrens.org); or Amity Presbyterian Church, 2831 N. Sharon Amity Road, Charlotte, NC 28205 (www.amitypc.org).

Life gave Charlie treasures beyond material wealth. There was Penny, of course. He was an elder at Amity Presbyterian, the friendly east Charlotte church where he professed his faith and made friends for life. He cherished the photo he took long ago with President Carter outside the President's church, Maranatha Baptist, in Plains, Ga. His golf friends made him laugh (but not when he was putting). Charlie and Penny enjoyed life at home so much, in fact, that they rarely traveled.

There were very few things Charlie wanted people to know about him. This was one: He had gotten only as far as 10th grade at Statesville High School when he left to study sheet metal as part of a New Deal initiative to provides jobs during the Great Depression. After the war, he graduated from Clevenger's Business College. Another mission accomplished.

Even before the doctor gave him the all clear, Charlie was looking to the future. He was 100 when he renewed his driver's license. He read The Charlotte Observer (in print!). But when they raised their price, he canceled his subscription a week or so before he died.

Saving for a rainy day.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.