Col. (Ret) CHARLES DANIEL LEWIS

Col. (Ret) Charles Daniel Lewis, age 91, of Kansas City, Missouri, passed away peacefully at home on Saturday, December 9, 2023 surrounded by family.

Memorial services will be announced at a later date.

Charles was born in DeSoto, Missouri, on August 15, 1932 to Ernest Benjamin Lewis and Mary Katherine (Haverstick) Lewis. After graduating from DeSoto high school in 1950, Charles attended Missouri Baptist Junior College in Poplar Bluff, MO. Upon graduation, he attended Officer Training and served in the Air Force as a flight navigator until 1956, when he returned to civilian life. During this time, he earned a B.S. degree at Southeast Missouri State. Charles then served as a teacher and football coach at Potosi High School until recalled to the Air Force during the Berlin Wall crisis in 1961. He honorably served his country in Air Force Communications until retiring from his last post at the Pentagon in 1985. While in the military, Charles continued his education, ultimately achieving an MBA.

After retiring from the military, Charles stayed in the Washington, DC area and pursued his passion for golf and coaching, becoming a PGA Golf Professional at Belle Haven Country Club in Alexandria, Virginia. Known to all as "Charlie", he spent winters playing golf and visiting friends throughout the south. He enjoyed teaching golf to veterans in the Wounded Warriors program. He also loved hunting and fishing with his father and siblings from an early age and continued to share his love of those sports with friends and family. He was an avid reader and gardener and enjoyed cooking and traveling. When his health began to fail, he moved to the Kansas City area in 2017 to be near family.

Charles was preceded in death by his daughter, Melissa Lewis, his parents and nine siblings: Ernest Lewis Jr, Opal Schillinger, Gladys Hammack, Cecil Lewis, Robert Lewis, Richard Lewis, Raymond Lewis, Mary Kathryn Flicke, John Lewis and is survived by siblings David Lewis and Patricia Crain.

He is survived by his children, Karen McKarnin (Patrick), Jeannie Kautt (Fred), and Mark Lewis (Julia); five grandchildren, Matthew Stauss (Tammie), Benjamin Kautt, Mekiya Walters (Itto), Blair Soss (Brian), and Taryn Egan (Patrick); and three great grandchildren, Crosby, Milo, and Eliza; and former wife Mary Alyce (Buff) Lewis.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be given to the Wounded Warrior Project online at www.woundedwarriorproject.org

Arrangements: Cullen Funeral Home, Raymore, Missouri 816.322.5278