Charles Elkin Kearns

Charles Elkin Kearns, 89, of Bud Sink Road, died Monday, April 9, 2007, at Lexington Memorial Hospital following a brief illness. The funeral will be at 2 p.m. Thursday at Bethesda United Methodist Church, where he was a member, by the Revs. Doug Hochmuth and Ned Owens. Burial will follow in the church cemetery. Mr. Kearns was born in Randolph County on Sept. 29, 1917, to Charles Ellington Kearns and Elizabeth Thompson Kearns. He graduated from North Carolina State University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in agronomy, served in the U.S. Army during World War II, retired as an inspector from Coble Dairy and the N.C. Department of Health Service and was a member of the Welcome Civitans Club. He was preceded in death by his parents and a sister, Sarah Lewis. Surviving are his wife, Wilma Watts Kearns; three sons, Charles Thomas "Tom" Kearns and his wife, Pam, of Lexington, James "Jim" Watts Kearns and his wife, Jane, of Southmont, and Lewis Allen Kearns of Winston-Salem; four grandchildren, Michael Kearns of Southmont, Ann Kearns Schaefer and her husband, Ronny, of Lexington, Ryan Kearns of Clemmons and Traci Kearns of Asheville; and one great-grandchild, Owen Charles Schaefer. The family will receive friends from 6 to 8 Wednesday at Davidson Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel, and other times at the home of a son, Tom Kearns, 779 Sink Road. Memorials may be made to Bethesda UMC Family Life Center, 2922 Bethesda Road, Lexington, NC 27295.