Charles Earl David, 91, was born in Evansville, Indiana on August 15, 1930 to Walter Earl and Evelyn Margaret Frease David. He passed from this life on June 1, 2022 in his adopted hometown of Huntsville, Alabama. Charles is survived by Sue (Downen), his loving wife of 64 years; daughter, Lynn (Gary) Basham of Austin, TX; son, Scott (Paula) David of Somerville, AL; grandchildren, Lindsey Thomason and daughter, Faith, Katie (Nick) Woods and sons, Judah and Avery of Athens, AL, Josh (Addie) David and children, McKenna and Everett of Hartselle AL, Jeffrey (Ashley) David of Cullman, AL, and Jacob (Allie) David of Madison, AL. Charles was preceded in death by his four siblings, Harold L. David, Betty D. Strupp, Jeanette D. Oliver, and Kenny David.
As a boy in the Stringtown community of Evansville, “Charlie” enjoyed scouting and tinkering with tools. He played football for and graduated from Reitz High School in 1948. Charles proudly served in the U.S. Navy from 1950 – 1954 and was a member of the U.S. Submarine Veterans organization.
After the Navy, Charles attended Evansville College (Univ. of Evansville) where he was president of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity and earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering. He married his college sweetheart, Sue Downen in March 1958 and they moved to Indianapolis where he worked for the Naval Avionics Facility Indianapolis (NAFI). The couple moved to Huntsville in 1961 where Charles worked for NASA on the Saturn V program from 1961-64. Charles then worked for Army Missile Command on Redstone Arsenal from 1964 until his retirement in 1985. Charles also worked as a defense contractor from 1985-93. Charles was awarded with five U.S. patents related to navigation and radar during his career.
Charles and Sue were members of First United Methodist in Huntsville. They loved to travel and enjoyed many trips out west and in Canada. They loved spending time with family on trips to Orange Beach. Charles traveled “home” to Indiana whenever possible to stock up on donuts, ketchup and Libs chocolates. “Popee” loved to share stories of the old days and growing up during the Depression and WWII with his grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 7 at Laughlin Service Funeral Home. The funeral service will be in the funeral home chapel on Wednesday, June 8 at 10 a.m. Interment will be in Huntsville Memory Gardens.
The family ask in lieu of flowers, donations be made to USS Alabama Battleship Foundation in memory of Mr. Charles David for the continued restoration of Submarine USS Drum. www.ussalabama.com
