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Visitation
Sunday, December 13, 2015
The Church of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints
Kearney, MO
7:30-8:30 p.m.
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Charles M. Bumstead Sr.
Charles M. Bumstead, 84, Kearney, Mo., died Wednesday, December 9, 2015. Charles was born on December 28, 2030 in Jacksonville, Fla., the son of Charles Marion Bumstead and Willie Mae Kellum.
He grew up on Calvin St. and attended Andrew Jackson High School in Jacksonville. He loved sports. He left high school and joined the U. S. Air Force. He was an enlisted man and worked his way up to drill sargeant, eventually taking the Air Force Officer's Qualifying Test and attending Officer's Candidate School. He became an officer and attended flight school in Bainbridge, Ga. He excelled at flying and was asked to become an instructor soon after learning to fly. Aviation became a passion at that point in his life. He left the Air Force in the 1950's and became an Air Traffic Controller in the Federal Aviation Administration and fighter pilot in the Florida Air National Guard.
In 1963, he and his wife, Marie McDonald, were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, along with their children. He was transferred to San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1964. In 1968 he took a year of leave to attend Air War College at the Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery Ala. It was there that he became a Crimson Tide fan. While still in Alabama, Charlie graduated Summa Cum Laude from Troy State University with a degree in Political Science. He retired from the Puerto Rico Air National Guard in 1973 as a Lt. Colonel. His next duty station after Air War was in the Kansas City, Mo. area. He became the Deputy Center Chief in Olathe, Kans., and retired in 1986. He accepted a job with the United Nations and was stationed in Bankok, Thailand working for ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization). He worked for International Civil Aviation negotiating air routes between the Asian countries. He later worked for IATA (International Air Transport Association) and traveled extensively through Asia and visited all over the world. In 1993, he and Marie retired to Kearney, Mo., and was living there when he passed.
He was preceded in death by his daughter, Suzan Marie Bowman, both his parents, and many cousins, aunts and uncles.
He is survived by his wife of 65 years and childhood sweetheart, Marie Bumstead, and children, May Beth Allen, Charles Merrill Bumstead Jr., Ronald Marc Bumstead, Holly Annette Soto, and Steven Merrill Bumstead. He has many grandchildren and great grand children.
Visitation will be held from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., Sunday, December 13, 2015 at The Church Of Jesus Christ Latter-Day Saints, Kearney, Mo., with private burial at Leavenworth National Cemetery.
Arrangements are through Fry-Bross & Spidle Funeral Home, Kearney, Mo.
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