Charles Covington

Charles Henry Covington Sr, 79, of Lake Mary, Florida, passed away Sunday, October 31, 2021, surrounded by family. Charlie was born on the family farm to Wallace and Rita Covington on November 17, 1941 in Fairfax, Virginia. He grew up helping out on the farm in rapidly developing suburban Northern Virginia and graduated from Fairfax High School in 1959. He met his future wife, Frances Stein, while driving her school bus as a student bus driver and the high school sweethearts married on the 19th of July, 1963. Charlie served in the US Marine Corps Reserves for 8 years and throughout his life embodied "Semper Fidelis."

Charlie studied auditing and worked for the U.S. Postal Service as an Inspector and as an auditor for AARP. For the bulk of his career he worked for the American Automobile Association National Office and Divisions initially as an auditor and then progressed through several management roles. When AAA moved to Florida, Charlie did too--leaving his beloved home state of Virginia. He retired from AAA after

nearly 25 years.

Charlie’s “retirement” was anything but retiring. For more than 20 years, he worked passionately

to serve others. He co-founded the Florida Chapter of Volunteer Optometric Service to

Humanity (VOSH) (later VOSH/Southeast) in 1995 and served on their Board of Directors until

his death. Charlie applied his organizing skills and incredible attention to detail when leading

more than 30 missions for VOSH to distribute eyeglasses across the globe including:

Cameroon, Vietnam, Ukraine, Paraguay, and many more. Through these trips and Charlie’s

other extensive volunteer work, he cultivated lifelong friendships. Charlie served as

Secretary/Treasurer for VOSH/Southeast and later for VOSH International, and they awarded

Charlie a VOSH Fellowship in recognition for his years of volunteerism and leadership.

More recently, he was an active member of The Rotary Club of Lake Mary where he chaired

their very successful Shredathon and served on the House Committee--greeting everyone each

week unless he was off traveling the globe. Charlie also volunteered with the Lion’s Club both in

Florida and Virginia, and served with Friendship Force and the Lake Mary Elder Affairs Council.

A regular subscriber and supporter, Charlie greatly enjoyed performances at the Wayne Densch

Performing Arts Center. Finally, Charlie was an avid reader, a lifelong history enthusiast, and an

adventurer always available to join friends traveling anywhere and everywhere.

Charlie is survived by his children: Patricia Covington Petrone, Sanford, FL, Pamela Covington

Katz, Brookline, MA and Charles Henry Covington Jr, Stanardsville, VA. He is also survived by

seven grandchildren who he loved abundantly: Michaela Petrone, Devlyn Petrone, Joseph Katz,

David Katz, Elan Katz, Charles "Chip" Covington and William "Chase" Covington. Charlie’s wife

of 40 years, Frances Covington, died in 2003. He was also preceded in death by his parents,

Wallace and Rita and his siblings Wallace Covington, Ida Lee Carey, Marshall Covington.

There will be a funeral service at National Memorial Park at 7482 Lee Highway, Falls Church,

VA 22042, on Wednesday, November 17, 2021 at 2:00 PM. In addition, there will be a

Celebration of Charlie’s Life on Saturday, November 27, 2021 from 1 to 4 PM lakeside at

Charlie’s home, 111 Linda Lane, Lake Mary, FL 32771.

Donations in Charlie’s memory can be made to:

The Ritz Theater at Wayne Densch Performing Arts Center -201 S. Magnolia, Sanford, FL

32771 https://www.ritztheatersanford.com/

The Rotary Club of Lake Mary, P.O. Box 950535, Lake Mary, Florida 32795.

VOSH/Southeast, 5485 W. Riverbend Road, Donnellon, FL 34433. Treasurer, Susan Stees

email: [email protected].