Charles and Missy were married for 35 years. He has two sons, Jimmy Sheets and Zackery Woods.

For as long as I’ve known him, he always wanted to be a firefighter. He joined Adwolfe Volunteer Fire Department in November 1986 as a Firefighter I and later served as an EMT and the vice president of the department. He was very passionate about devoting his extra time to his fire department. He was also a volunteer EMT for 25 years with Marion Volunteer Lifesaving Crew.

Charles did volunteer work with the Marion Little League when our son Zack was playing ball. He was also a coach and worked on the Little League board. Later, when Zack was a Boy Scout, Charles was a pack leader and helped Zack with his Eagle Scout project. Sponsored by the fire department, they put smoke detectors in homes in the community that needed them.

Charles was the type of person who never met a stranger. Whenever we would go somewhere, whether it was on vacation or just a day trip, if we happened to come upon a wreck, we would always stop to help. We would also visit fire departments—from Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to Dade City, Florida. He liked to visit to see if they had any new equipment that might benefit his department when he returned home. He purchased T-shirts and collected challenge coins from other departments.

Charles was always there for his family and friends in any situation. All you had to do was call, and he’d be there. He never asked anyone for anything and didn’t ask for credit for what he did. He received the Valor of Honor in December 2019 and didn’t feel like he deserved it. He just said it’s what he was trained to do.

In addition to his work as a volunteer firefighter/EMT, Charles did great carpentry work, from building Food Lion in Marion to working with Hayes Carpet laying floors for several years. After that, he was self-employed before starting to work as a maintenance man at Park Terrace Apartments in Marion, Virginia, for 16 years.

He was a very devoted father, husband, big brother, and friend. Even after his death, he was still giving by being an organ donor.