Charles Edward Rash

Charles Edward Rash, Sergeant Major, United States Army (Retired), 80, lately of Crozet, Virginia, passed unto the Lord on Tuesday, November 20, 2018 at Hospice House in Charlottesville.

Edward was born June 25, 1938 in Damascus, Virginia, to Emmett Graham Rash and Clara Annalee Lewis; he was the fourth of eleven children. Edward married Joyce Ann Keeley on April 23, 1966 in Calverton, Virginia.

Edward attended Bethel School in Abingdon, Virginia, and graduated from Damascus High School with the class of 1956. He also took courses at Washington County Technical School. He joined the United States Army in August 1956 and completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. After advanced training at the Quartermaster School, he subsequently served with the Army’s Quartermaster Corps during more than twenty-nine years of active duty. His overseas assignments included Japan, Korea, France, Germany, and two tours in Vietnam. Stateside assignments included the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center in Monterey, Calif., where he studied Vietnamese; Fort Bliss, Texas where he graduated from the Sergeants Major Academy; and Fort Lee, Virginia where he completed his final active duty assignment as the senior supply sergeant with the U.S. Army Troop Support Agency’s Directorate of Engineering and Material. Sergeant Major Rash was highly decorated for his distinguished military service, including the Army Commendation Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal (twice), and the Legion of Merit for “exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements.”

During multiple three-year assignments to Germany in the 1970s and 1980s, the Rash family lived near Manheim, Karlsruhe, Heidelberg, and Zweibrücken. They enjoyed camping together, attending festivals, and especially “volksmarching” in the countryside.

After retiring from the Army, Edward was employed for twenty years as a Quality Assurance Specialist for the Defense Supply Center near Richmond, Virginia. Upon retiring from that work in 2005 he took up wood carving and turning, and enjoyed traveling to craft fairs to sell his creations and admire the work of others. He also enjoyed fishing, playing cards, and visiting with family in Abingdon and Damascus, and at Monroe Bay Campground at Colonial Beach, Virginia. After more than thirty years residing in Prince George County south of Petersburg, Virginia, Edward and Joyce relocated to the Lodge at Old Trail in Crozet, Virginia, in 2016.

Edward is survived by his wife of fifty-two years, Joyce; his daughter Roswitha Maria ‘Rosy’ Stone and husband Scott of Ruckersville; his son Scott Raymond Rash and wife Janel of Winchester; four grandchildren: Edward Dean Rash, Annabelle Elizabeth Rash, Jordan Ann Muhlhauser, and Alyx Alaina Muhlhauser; two great-grandchildren; his sisters: Hazel Lucille Fleming and Mary Jane Speers; his brothers: John David, Ray Allen (Bambi), Daniel Lee (Jan), and Joey Wayne (TokSun) Rash; his sisters-in-law: Linda Rash and Elsie Rash; and many nieces and nephews. Edward was preceded in death by his parents Emmett and Clara Rash; his sister Francis Irene Rash; and his brothers: Jack Emmett, Earl Milton, and Emmett Graham Rash, Jr.

Teague Funeral Home of Charlottesville will host a visitation on Friday, November 30, from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A memorial service will be held at Ivy Creek United Methodist Church, 684 Woodlands, Road, Charlottesville, on Saturday, December 1, at 11:00 a.m. Burial with full military honors will be at Arlington National Cemetery on a date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, memorials in Edward’s name may be directed to Hospice House, Charlottesville.

Edward wished to be remembered as a good man, father, brother, son, husband, and a fine soldier.