Lavender
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Charles Bedford Lavender 1921-1995

CHARLES BEDFORD LAVENDER was born on October 15, 1921 as the 1st of 4 children of Charley Lavender and Alma Pearl Livesay. He grew up in Chesapeake WV and attended the Chesapeake Elementary School and Marmet Jr. High School. He enlisted in the U.S. Army (ser#35444927) in Huntington WV in September 1942 and was assigned to Fort Thomas Ky as Pvt and later assigned to the Signal Corp School at Camp Crowder Mo. (September 1942 - July 1943)and later assigned to Camp Dix New Jersey (July 1943 - August 1943). He departed from Staten Island NY in August 1943 for North Africa where he arrived in Oran North Africa in September 1943. He served in the North Africa (German & Italian) and Rome/Southern France (German). He returned to the United States aboard a Hospital Ship (USS Wisterin) from Naples Italy and arrived in Charleston SC Port. He was discharged from the U.S. Army with a honorable discharge on August 7, 1945. He married a Mildred Arlene Lawson (d/o Emory Lawson and Vesta Griffith) from Yawkey WV (Lincoln County) on January 20, 1949 in Cattlesburg KY. They had 4 children: James Robert Lavender (Sept 20, 1949), Patricia Ann Lavender (August 20, 1950), Rebecca Sue Lavender (April 27, 1953) and Jill Lynn Lavender (August 13, 1959). Charles was a member of the Chesapeake Lion's club, Charter member and former Fire Chief of the Chesapeake Volunteer Department, V.F.W. Post 8363 (Davey Lew Post), former assistant scout master and a life member of the Disabled American Veterans. Charles followed his family tradition of working for coal company in Winifrede, WV and later started to work in industries as a electrician (certified by the WV State Fire Marshall as a Master Electrician). He retired from the Charleston Ordinance Center in South Charleston, WV in 1989. He spent most of his retirement caring for his grandchildren and doing a lot of wood work as his past time. Charles died on October 13, 1995 at home in Chesapeake WV from a long illness.
Submitted by James R Lavender ([email protected]) on Fri Oct 2 17:13:00 1998
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