Carl Ward Schoonover Sr., 94, a resident of Parsons, passed from this life Monday, December 23, 2019, at his home surrounded by his family and under the care of Mountain Hospice.
Carl was born Sunday, November 1, 1925, in Parsons, a son of the late Carl Jackson Schoonover and Letha Fern (Brown) Schoonover. On April 6, 1947, in New York, NY, he married Florence Marie Sayger, who preceded him in death on September 8, 2007.
Left to cherish Carl’s memory are six children, Carl Ward Schoonover, Jr., Glen Taylor Schoonover, Susan Marie Randolph, John William Schoonover, Letha Lynn Schoonover and Patrick Kent Schoonover, twelve grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, two sisters, Betty Jo Warner and Helen Schrader, several nieces and nephews.
Besides his parents and wife, Carl was preceded in death by one son, James Robert Schoonover, and one grandchild.
Carl graduated Parsons High School, attended West Virginia University and graduated Davis & Elkins College. He was a veteran serving with the Army Air Force during World War II. In Britain, he was a tail gunner in a B-17 Flying Superfortress based in England in 1944, and he had flown 27 missions over Germany and was shot down once. Upon his return from his military service, he was a smoke jumper fighting fires in Spokane, WA. Carl was a football and basketball coach in Tucker County, Oakland, MD, and Baltimore, MD. Carl was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and the National Rifle Association. He played in the Mountain City Band in Oakland, MD and in the Baltimore Colt Marching Band. He was the Colt Librarian having to keep all the band’s music organized. He enjoyed construction work often enlisting the help of any of his children who would help him on a given project. He was the oldest member of the Parsons Presbyterian Church having joined in 1941.
Carl’s request for cremation will be honored. A memorial service will be announced at a later date. The Hostetler Funeral Home has been entrusted with the arrangements for Carl Ward Schoonover, Sr.
Condolences may be made to the family at www.hostetlerfuneralhome.com
