CHARLES T. WALKER Jr.

Charles T. "Charlie" Walker Jr., 79, loving husband of 54 years to the late Doris Johnson Walker, died Monday, July 24, 2006, at Tuomey Regional Medical Center, surrounded by his loving family and friends.

Born in Ashe County, N.C., he was a son of the late Charles T. Walker Sr. and the late Eva Walsh Walker, both of the North Carolina mountains.

Mr. Walker was a member of First Baptist Church, the Kiwanis Club, the American Legion Post No. 15, and a member and past president of the Lions Club. He was an industrial engineer with Williams Furniture Co. and Korn Industries and retired from Becton-Dickinson in 1994. Reared in Rocky Mount, N.C., he was a 1945 graduate of Rocky Mount High School and a 1957 graduate of N.C. State University. He was a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and the Korean War. He loved playing golf with his friends and enjoyed following many sports, especially those involving his N.C. State Wolfpack.

Survivors include a son, Keith Walker and his wife, Edite, of Saco, Maine; a daughter, Martha Walker Fullington and her husband, Martin, of Asheville, N.C.; a granddaughter, Katherine Page "Katie" Fullington of Chapel Hill, N.C.; and a brother, retired U.S. Air Force Col. E.G. Walker of Pensacola, Fla.

He was a tender, loving father and a generous, caring friend. He was famous for his sense of humor and endless repertoire of stories and jokes.

He was preceded in death by a brother, Charles A. Walker, and a sister, Eleanor Scott.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday at First Baptist Church with the Rev. Charles Clanton officiating.

Honorary pallbearers will be members of the Triune Sunday School Class of First Baptist Church.

Graveside services will be held at 10 a.m. Friday in the Pineview Cemetery in Rocky Mount.

The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 p.m. today at Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and other times at the home.

Memorials may be made to the First Baptist Church Benevolence Fund, 107 E. Liberty St., Sumter, SC 29150.

Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of arrangements.