Ranger Exes Memorial - RHS Class of 1939

Charlie Whitefield CHARLIE DAVID WHITEFIELD, 82, loving husband, father, grandpa & great-grandpa, passed away March 14, 2004 in Abilene, TX. Charlie was a retired pilot, pipeline contractor, welder and inspector for various construction companies in Texas, Nebraska and Ohio. He was a member of the United Association Pipefitters Union, Local 798, for 45 years. Interment was at Lingleville West Cemetary. Charlie Whitefield was born on March 9, 1922 in Ranger, TX. He was the son of John F. & Freddie (Greer) Whitefield. He graduated from Ranger High School in 1939 & attended Abilene Christian College on a football scholarship. He served in the Royal Canadian Air Force from September 1941 to April 1942, & terminated service to volunteer for the U.S. Army Air Force, July 8, 1942. He trained at Garner Field, Goodfellow Field and Moore Field, all in Texas, & began overseas duty June 3, 1944, with the 8th Air Force, based at Duxford Air Force Base, in Duxford, England. Charlie flew a P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft, completing 66 missions in the air offensive over Europe. He received the Air Medal with four Oak Leaf Cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross, ETO Ribbon with four Battle Stars and Presidential Unit Citation. He married Jane Clemons Krantz, of Salamanca, NY, Corporal in the Women’s Army Corp, in Dec. of 1944, in Staines, England. He returned to the States and was discharged in 1945. Charlie, Jane & family of five, traveled for many years, living mainly in Texas and Nebraska. Charlie had many friends in Fremont, NE and enjoyed fishing at the State Lakes. They retired to Eastland, TX in 1983 and moved to Lake Leon, where he enjoyed fishing, golfing with his buddies at the Lone Cedar Country Club, flying his Cessna and Bonanza airplanes from the Ranger airport and visiting with many of his childhood friends. Charlie was an avid Internet surfer and maintained a lively correspondence with his family and friends via e-mail. He was especially proud of his digital photo collection and forwarded many photos of grandchildren and Texas sunsets to one and all. A particular highlight in recent years was a trip in September 1995 to the official opening of the American Air Museum in Duxford, England. Charlie and Jane spent a fabulous event packed week participating in the ground breaking ceremonies, being interviewed by BBC radio, viewing the Duxford Air Show, which included many WWII aircraft, returning to the Grovsner Hotel, where they spent their honeymoon, and telling many a story, to one and all, of their time spent there from 1943 to 1945. Charlie was preceded in death by his son, Joel Whitefield, in 1983. Survivors at the time of his death include; wife, Jane Whitefield; daughter and son-in-law, Kay and Craig Story of Kingwood, TX; son and daughter-in-law, Dave and Kathy Whitefield of Gardnerville, NV; son and daughter-in -law, Paul and Saralee Whitefield of La Canada, CA; daughter and son-in-law, Karol Ann and Grove Bock of Omaha, NE; ten grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Jane & Charlie Whitefield WIFE: JANE CLEMONS KRANTZ WHITEFIELD was born Oct. 30, 1919, in Salamanca, NY. She was the daughter of Leon & Mabel Krantz. After graduating from high school in Salamanca in 1937, Jane worked at F.W. Woolworth's. As the oldest daughter in a family of eight children, she also took on odd jobs, such as cleaning and ironing, to help support her family. On March 3, 1944, she enlisted in the Women's Army Corp. She was sent to Daytona Beach, FL, for basic training then was transferred to Goodfellow Field in San Angelo, TX. There, she met a handsome young cadet by the name of Charles D. Whitefield (RHS-1939). In Sept. of 1944, she left the U.S. for duty in England as well as a brief tour of duty in France. Charlie & Jane remained in contact throughout WWII and eventually married in Staines, England, in Dec. of 1944. Jane returned to the States and was discharged from the Women's Army Corp in Feb. of 1945. She became a loving wife, mother of five children & homemaker extraordinaire. Jane supported her husband and devoted her life to loving and nurturing her children while Charlie's job demanded that the family travel extensively throughout the Midwest and Southern part of the U.S. Jane still found time for some of her favorite hobbies that included collecting quilts, shopping for antiques and then refinishing some of the antique dressers and chairs she would find. Family was always Jane's most important priority, and she went out of her way to host family dinners and holidays and was known to open her home to anyone who wanted to stop by. After retiring to Eastland, Texas, Jane spent nine years as the head of the volunteer gift shop for Eastland Memorial Hospital. Later in life, Jane was thrilled at the opportunity to travel to Australia with her sister Marcia and treasured the memories from their trip. In Sept. of 1995, Charlie & Jane traveled to England to attend the official opening of the American Air Museum in Duxford, England. Jane was preceded in death by her husband Charles Whitefield & her son Joel Whitefield. Survivors include daughter and son-in-law Kay and Craig Story of Kingwood, TX; son and daughter-in- law Dave and Kathy Whitefield of Gardnerville, NV; son and daughter-in-law Paul and Saralee Whitefield of La Canada, CA; and daughter and son-in-law Karol Ann and Grove Bock of Omaha, NE; 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. SON: PAUL WHITEFIELD, a veteran editor at the Los Angeles Times who helped guide coverage of many of the paper's major stories over his 30-year career, died at home on Aug. 14, 2019 after a five-year battle with esophageal cancer. He was 66. A longtime resident of La Canada Flintridge, he is survived by his wife, Sara Lessley, a former Page 1 editor at The Times, and their two sons, Sam and Ben Whitefield. As part of the paper's foreign staff, Whitefield oversaw copy editing and page design of some of the major stories of the day: most notably the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union. "He was truly unflappable in dealing with breaking news on tough deadlines," said former colleague Jon Thurber. John Paul Whitefield was born July 13, 1953, in Ranger, TX, to Jane & Charles Whitefield, a war hero who flew 74 missions over Germany during WWII. Their son graduated from high school in Fremont, NE, & received a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska in 1975. He then obtained a master's degree in international relations from the University of Hawaii and began work on a Ph.D there, with the goal of eventually teaching. At the time of his retirement in 2015, he oversaw copy editing and production of the Times' op-ed pages and was a frequent contributor of online humor pieces. In addition to his wife and sons, he is survived by a brother, Charles David Whitefield of Carson City, Nev., and sisters Kay Louise Story of San Antonio and Karol Ann Michelsen of Canadian, TX. Another brother, Joe, died in a car crash in 1983.