Charles William Kavanaugh

Charles William Kavanaugh was born January 13, 1938, to Charles Benjamin Kavanaugh and Helen (Guiles) Kavanaugh of Little Rock, Arkansas. He slipped the surly bonds of earth when he passed away on April 14, 2020.

Charles, a forever-Marine and a retired commercial airline pilot, lived a life of LOVE. Early on he was dubbed “Charlie Bill,” by family members. Every person who ever befriended Charlie Bill found him to be a man of sincerity, compassion, humor, and love.

As a young man, he attended Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas; he found his first lady love, Sue Harington, between his passions of horseback and motorcycle riding. After graduating early from high school, Charles was accepted into the Naval Cadet program in Pensacola, Florida, where he trained to become an aircraft carrier pilot. He had already married Sue Harington by that time, and they had their first child while he was at the Naval Academy.

Once he completed the program he elected to enlist in the United States Marine Corps and was commissioned as an officer in 1957. He ultimately rose to the ranks of Major before he was honorably discharged in 1967. During his service to our country, Charles flew A-4 fighter aircrafts as an aviator. He was a fighter pilot and had “Top Secret” security clearance while he was stationed in the Philippines, Japan and Cuba. He served on multiple aircraft carriers circumnavigating the earth. It was his intelligence and initiative that led him to attend the University of Arkansas, where he obtained a degree in Industrial Engineering. When he left the Marine Corps, Charles continued to serve as a reservist. His passion for flight and his worldwide travels led him to become a commercial airline pilot for Trans World Airlines (T.W.A.) in 1967.

While at T.W.A., he found his greatest passion and next love of life, Jane McEwen, his companion of 50 years. During his time in the aviation industry, Charles became a licensed helicopter pilot in addition to a fixed wing pilot. Throughout his career, Charles spent most of his time living in New York City, traveling to and from Europe and other exotic corners of the earth. His developed love for sailing led him to spend his spare time living on Yacht Mariah in the Abaco Islands of the Bahamas. Upon his retirement from T.W.A, in 1990, he found time to relive his childhood passions of motorcycles, small aircraft and horses in Mesa, Arizona.

He is survived by his wife (Jane), his three children (Susan, Charles, Kyle) and grandchildren (Taylor, Ashley, Kaden, and Addison).