Charles M. King laid to rest

Capt. Jon Schaeffer had to smile a bit when he got up to speak Monday at the funeral of 1st Sgt. Charles King, because Schaeffer had never thought of his fellow soldier as "Chuckie."

To the people at the Lee Heights Community Church, King would always be "Chuckie" or "Chuck" or "Charles," the helpful little boy who could be counted on to do more than his share of work.

He was the little boy who loved to draw and spoke softly, traits he carried into adulthood. Many of King's paintings were displayed around the church.

"We all learned one thing: When Sgt. King yelled, you moved," recalled Schaeffer. "He only yelled when there was a good reason."

King, 48, a 19-year Army veteran, never had time to shout on Oct. 14 when a roadside bomb exploded near his armored vehicle, killing King and two other soldiers. He had been scheduled to return home next month.

"He did not have to go on that resupply mission, but Sgt. King loved his soldiers," said Schaeffer. "He would not let them do anything that he would not do, so he was right there with them."

His words elicited a sea of smiles and nods from the people crammed into the tiny church on Lee Road, the people who watched King grow to manhood in Cleveland's Lee-Miles neighborhood.

King attended Cuyahoga Community College and worked as a fashion illustrator in Montgomery, Ala., and an advertising illustrator in Mobile, Ala., before joining the Army in 1987.

He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 67th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas.

King's 6-month-old son, Jordan, quietly rested in the arms of his mother, Dana Canedy, a former Plain Dealer editor now working for the New York Times. Canedy, who lives in Manhattan, was engaged to King. He also had a 15-year-old daughter, Christina, of Killeen, Texas.

Pastor Emeritus Vern Miller recalled the day he asked for volunteers to build a 3-foot concrete block wall for a needy neighbor.

"Chuckie was the first to arrive," Miller said. "He was ready to work. Of course, he was too little to carry the heavy blocks, but he brought the workers water all day."

Miller said King's patriotism was rooted in a time when the government "was truly your friend. The federal government could be trusted."

He paused, looked over the church and said, "That was then. This is now."

From the Plain Dealer

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