Charles Edward Stainer Jr.

Charles Edward Stainer (Charlie) died after a short bout with pneumonia at 11:15 pm on July 10, 2013 in Frisco, Texas at the age of 88. He is survived by his loving wife Carol, sons Charles Edward Stainer III, James Dale Stainer, stepsons Jeffrey Alan Hanson, Timothy Lee Hanson, Bradley Jay Hanson, (10) grandchildren, and (4) great-grandchildren. Charlie’s daughter Esther Stainer Walner preceded him in death.

Charlie was born on February 9th, 1925 in Little Rock, Ark and was adopted by Charles Edward Stainer Sr. and Lena Phillips Stainer, at the age of 11 months. Charlie graduated from Little Rock High School in 1943 and soon volunteered for military service in the Navy. He was chosen to be part of the Navy’s new Top Secret Radar program and was stationed on the USS Lexington (CV-16). He spent almost a year on this carrier but was transferred to the USS Yorktown after the Lexington was hit and needed repairs. On the Yorktown, Charlie met long-time friend and fellow Radar Man Ed Brand.

After the war, he left the Navy and pursued an education at Phillips University in Enid, Oklahoma where he completed a Bachelor’s in Divinity. Although he was ordained by the church, he never accepted a call to serve a congregation. He went back to school to complete a Master’s Degree in Education but fell short by just 6 hours of completing his degree.

Charlie married his first wife Betty and they moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1958 where they raised their 3 children and Charlie worked supporting the North American Radar Network as a civilian employee for the Air Force. Charlie was an active member of his church and led a Boy Scout troop as Scout Master.

In 1976, Charlie and Betty divorced and on January 30th, 1977, Charlie married Carol Hanson. In 1980 they moved to the Houston area where Charlie took a job with the University of Houston. In 1992 he retired from the U of H and with his wife Carol moved to Spicewood Texas where he enjoyed his “Golden Years” building his 30 foot by 30 foot garage (man cave), overseeing the construction of the “Blue Bonnet Inn”, and volunteering at Genesis Lutheran Church. During this time, he was a key lay leader of the church acting as sound engineer and Elder

After a severe fall and time in the hospital, Charlie and Carol decided to move to Dallas to be closer to Carol’s son Brad and his family. Charlie and Carol moved to Little Elm Texas in 2007 and found a new church home at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Carrollton TX. His church and Christian friends were a very important part of his life.

Charlie enjoyed traveling and had a special place in his heart for the hills of Branson, Missouri. He and Carol loved to visit historic places and family throughout the United States. In the last 2 years of his life he and Carol opened their home to Jeffrey, Carol’s son, who was ill and no longer able to live alone. To the very end of his days on this earth he thought of others before himself and he will be deeply missed by his family and friend

The family has requested that in lieu of flowers please send memorials to the Missouri Synod Lutheran Church PO Box 790089 St. Louis, MO 63179-0089 (Mark: "Daughterty-Asia" on the memory line). This is to support Shaun and Beth Daugherty, our missionaries to Asia.