Charles Ness
April 26, 1928 — January 4, 2015
Charles Ness
A lifetime lover of theater, golf, duck hunting and especially people, Charles Watson Van Ness, 86, died Sunday evening, Jan 4, 2015.
Born April 26, 1928, near Syracuse, New York, Charlie moved to Petersburg, Virginia, where he attended Petersburg public schools. After living in many places, including India and Pakistan and El Dorado, Arkansas, with his parents who traveled the world with American Oil Co., he graduated from El Dorado High School and attended, first the University of Virginia, and then the University of Arkansas where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. It was at the U of A where he met and then married Laura Ann Garanflo.
After graduation, the couple moved to El Dorado where Charlie worked first at Lion Oil, and then in the late 1950's became partners and co-owner with his friend Harry Bodenhamer at the R.C. Bodenhamer Insurance and Real Estate Agency, later known as the Van Ness-Hosford and Van Ness-McCurry Agency. He also quickly became a civic leader, serving as president and board member in several groups including the Kiwanis Club, the South Arkansas Arts Center, the El Dorado Golf and Country Club, and the First Presbyterian Church. He was a founding member of the El Dorado Little Theater.
Musically gifted, Charlie played the saxophone in several big bands including the most recent, Young at Heart. He performed in many plays and musicals at the Arts Center, and sang in the First Presbyterian church choir.
After Laura died in 1992, Charlie married Diane Davis West, and the couple shared many great times with family and friends until her death in 2008.
Charlie is survived by two children, Carol Van Ness Holiman and Lewis Watson Van Ness and his wife Jan Wren Van Ness; four grandchildren, Charles Watson Van Ness, and his wife Ashley Lord Van Ness; Robert Lewis Van Ness and his wife Lauren McConnell Van Ness, Susan Wren Van Ness, Stephanie Marie Holiman; and one great grandchild, Charlotte Wren Van Ness.
Nephews include William Rosser Mann of Chapel Hill, NC; James Grantham Mann, Mark Van Ness Mann of Whitakers, and Peter Drake Mann of Little Rock.
Services will be held at 1 pm on Saturday, January 10, at the First Presbyterian Church in El Dorado, Arkansas. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of El Dorado and the South Arkansas Arts Center.
Born April 26, 1928, near Syracuse, New York, Charlie moved to Petersburg, Virginia, where he attended Petersburg public schools. After living in many places, including India and Pakistan and El Dorado, Arkansas, with his parents who traveled the world with American Oil Co., he graduated from El Dorado High School and attended, first the University of Virginia, and then the University of Arkansas where he was a member of the Kappa Sigma fraternity. It was at the U of A where he met and then married Laura Ann Garanflo.
After graduation, the couple moved to El Dorado where Charlie worked first at Lion Oil, and then in the late 1950's became partners and co-owner with his friend Harry Bodenhamer at the R.C. Bodenhamer Insurance and Real Estate Agency, later known as the Van Ness-Hosford and Van Ness-McCurry Agency. He also quickly became a civic leader, serving as president and board member in several groups including the Kiwanis Club, the South Arkansas Arts Center, the El Dorado Golf and Country Club, and the First Presbyterian Church. He was a founding member of the El Dorado Little Theater.
Musically gifted, Charlie played the saxophone in several big bands including the most recent, Young at Heart. He performed in many plays and musicals at the Arts Center, and sang in the First Presbyterian church choir.
After Laura died in 1992, Charlie married Diane Davis West, and the couple shared many great times with family and friends until her death in 2008.
Charlie is survived by two children, Carol Van Ness Holiman and Lewis Watson Van Ness and his wife Jan Wren Van Ness; four grandchildren, Charles Watson Van Ness, and his wife Ashley Lord Van Ness; Robert Lewis Van Ness and his wife Lauren McConnell Van Ness, Susan Wren Van Ness, Stephanie Marie Holiman; and one great grandchild, Charlotte Wren Van Ness.
Nephews include William Rosser Mann of Chapel Hill, NC; James Grantham Mann, Mark Van Ness Mann of Whitakers, and Peter Drake Mann of Little Rock.
Services will be held at 1 pm on Saturday, January 10, at the First Presbyterian Church in El Dorado, Arkansas. In lieu of flowers, gifts may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of El Dorado and the South Arkansas Arts Center.
To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Charles Ness, please visit our flower store.
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