Charles Dearwood Pinkerton

Charles Dearwood Pinkerton, 90, of Stanton Texas was reunited in Heaven with the saints by the grace of Our Heavenly Father on December 2^nd 2020 after a blessedly brief struggle with Covid-19.

Charlie was preceded in death by the love of his life Billie Angel Pinkerton in April of 2012;  his mother and father Henry and Dovie Pinkerton;  his sister Billie Jean Lightner, his Brother Kaye Pinkerton, and his adopted brother Gene Jumper.  He is survived by his younger sister Mickey Landers, his adopted sister LaDell Jumper, and his children Tom and Denise Pinkerton, Rita and Boyce Powell, John and Sharon Pinkerton;  his grandchildren Heather and Willie Justis, Ashley and Patrick Brown, Hilary and Joshua Eysenbach, Joshua Powell, Benjamin and Kara Pinkerton, and Scott and Shelley Leake; and eight great-grandchildren at last count.

Charlie was born May 4, 1930 in Throckmorton, Texas and moved to Martin County soon after where he attended the Stanton schools.  Son of a carpenter during the Great Depression, Charlie grew up working hard.  One of his earliest recounted memories was polishing shoes outside of the barber shop in downtown Stanton.  He also worked at the local lumber yard, and eventually wound up as a general contractor in the construction trades, where he built businesses and homes throughout Midland, Stanton, and Big Springs Texas.

One day while going into the Stanton Drugstore to get a milkshake, young Charlie met an Angel!  Billie Joy Angel, who from that point on always made Charlie’s shakes bigger than anyone else’s.  On one of their first dates, Charlie drove Billie to church and sat in the parking lot until the service was over.  Although they were crazy about each other, Billie told Charlie that if he couldn’t go to church with her, she couldn’t go out with him.  As a result of the fiery red-head’s stand on her faith, Charlie and Billie were married 62 years, 5 months, 11 days:  and are today reunited in Heaven.

Charlie and Billie were married October 22, 1949 at the Courtney Baptist Church.  Billie’s sisters and their husbands followed them to a nearby hotel to play cards, which Billie enjoyed: Charlie not so much.  Then in 1950, Charlie and Billie moved to a 1-bedroom house in Midland Texas until their new house on 939 North Edwards could be completed.    While in Midland Charlie and Billie attended Bellview Baptist Church, and Charlie served as a Deacon who helped to found a new church.  He and Billie were always heavily involved in children and youth ministries, supporting missions, and helping people wherever they could.  They were the epitome of Southern hospitality and “good people”.  If Will Rogers said, “I never met a man I didn’t like”, it could be said of Charlie, “He never met anyone who didn’t like him”.

During the Korean War, Charlie signed up to do his part.  At basic training he met a young man named Gene Jumper, and as a result of this blessed plan LaDell Jumper wound up sharing living space with Billie while “the boys” were away at war.  Charlie knew that if he took a riskier assignment, he could get home to his beloved Billie a little quicker, so he took an appointment with a radar spotter unit behind enemy lines.  He never liked to talk about it, but he wound up in charge of the unit because of the attrition of his leaders.  When Charlie made it home to see his love and meet his new son Tom for the first time, it was very hard.  At that point, he and Billie made an agreement that “18 months was enough”, and they never willingly spent time apart during the remainder of their married years.  Nothing made Charlie happier than being with his wife and family.

In 1970 Charlie was approached by the Stanton superintendent and asked if he would move to Stanton and teach Vocational Skills to young men and women.   After prayer and discussion, he and Billie moved to 603 North Saint Francis in Stanton and Charlie became a schoolteacher.   He was befriended by many good men of the Lion’s Club and Masonic Lodges, and became a pillar of the First Baptist Church of Stanton and Stanton community.  To the day he died, Charlie had young men and women come up to him and thank him for the things that he taught them in school that enabled them to make a living for a lifetime.

At the age of 62, Charlie retired from Stanton ISD, and began working with Billie.  Billie was an accountant, tax preparer, and insurance underwrite who eventually ran her own business from their final earthly home at 2607 Westside Dr., Stanton, Tx.  Charlie would take pictures of the houses to be insured, and help Billie however he could.  During his “retirement years”, he also read meters for the Stanton electric company, built houses and church additions, and help his children on various projects. At 87, he still insisted on helping his son John build a carport and back patio.

After Billie passed away, Charlie lived with his daughter Rita and she faithfully and lovingly took care of him for his remaining years.  Charlie finished his life as he’d lived it:  a true man of God, an earthly example of the type of husband and father a Christian should be.  He loved people, and he was consistently thankful for all God had given him.  Through loss of wife, sight, and health he still praised God, and today he has his mansion and his crown.

The family will receive friends from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM Sunday 12/6 at the Nalley-Pickle Funeral Home, 3800 North Big Spring St., Midland Texas  79705.  Funeral services will be at 1:00 PM on Monday 12/7 at the First Baptist Church in Stanton.  Interment will follow at Evergreen Cemetery.  The family suggests memorials be made to the First Baptist Church, P. O. Box 1168, Stanton, Texas 79782 or to the Martin County Senior Center, P. O. Box 1233, Stanton, Texas 79782.  Arrangements under the direction of Gilbreath Funeral Home of Stanton. Online condolences can be made at: www.npwelch.com