Obituary of Charles Burklin Mitchell

Born June 14, 1920 to Willis and Ruby Mitchell and died May 29, 2018.

He was preceded in death by Helen (Pete) Kirkwood Mitchell and they were married for 38 years.

Survived by children: Charles K. (Cindy), Robert B., William W. (Linda), and Kent H. (Beth).

His eleven grandchildren are: Peter, Sarah, Kelly, Katherine, John, Charley, Christopher, James, Thomas, Mark and Julia.

He was preceded in death by his sister, Harriette (Bill), his nephew David and survived by nephews Bruce and John.

Charles was born and raised in Washington, he graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1938 where he played trumpet and loved travelling around the city on the trolley cars.

He was drafted into the US Army where he served from 1941-1945 as a member of the 3^rd Army Band under General Patton.

After the war, he graduated from Catholic University in Music Education and then got his masters degree from Cincinnati.  He was a principal and band director at Elsie High School in Michigan.

He returned to Washington  in 1953 and was a guidance counselor at Washington Lee High School in Arlington, Va. where he met and then married Helen Kirkwood in 1955. They lived in Arlington from 1955-1960.

Charles went to work for the federal government in Sep 1955 and spent the next 26 years working for the Department of the Army, Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture retiring as a personnel officer in 1982.

Charles and Helen moved to Vienna in 1960 where they were members of Vienna Presbyterian Church where he served as a deacon and trustee and raised their 4 boys.

He loved to spend time at his farm in Orange County, Va. and at Sunset Beach in NC. He enjoyed walking the beaches, riding bikes, playing tennis and driving classic cars.