Charles 'Charlie Dawes Tipton's Obituary
Born on March 10, 1925 in the Cross Timbers Region at Dublin, Texas, he died unexpectedly on January 29, 2008 in Garland, Texas. He leaves behind Louise, his wife of 39 years; daughters Bonnie, Beccye and Terry; sons Roger and Lee; granddaughters Stephanie, Vanessa, Jessica and Lauren; grandsons Ben, Shane, Tim, Zachary, and Tyler; great grandsons Steven, Charlie Wade and Will; great granddaughters, Kaila and Devin; daughters in-law, Jacci, Aimee and Kelley, and son in-law Bob. He was preceded in death by his parents, David Butler and Ora Lee of Dublin, Texas; brother, David Butler of Fort Worth, Texas and his son, Paul, of Garland, Texas. Charlie was recruited from Dublin High School to play football at Baylor in 1942. Soon convinced he was too small to play college football, he left Baylor in 1943 to serve his country in the U. S. Navy during WWII. After the war he studied at and graduated from UT Austin with an M. S. in Electrical Engineering and a job at the university. With a growing family he left the university in 1955 for a career in industry. Following intermediate service at Collins Radio and Temco Aircraft, he joined E-Systems and worked at Garland, Texas though retirement in 1988. He grew to be widely recognized and personally known and loved by so many at E-Systems; literally from the janitor to the CEO. Charlie’s professional career spanned the emergence and the death throes of what some early recognized as the Evil Empire. While at E-Systems he held many senior posts in science and technology developments of highly advanced reconnaissance, surveillance and intelligence systems. A brilliant man of impeccable integrity, Charlie’s contributions to the nation’s security were well appreciated and recognized both by his family at E-Systems, and by his special customers. Charlie’s keen intellect, boundless curiosity, steel trap memory, and laser wit will be sorely missed by the family he loved so deeply, and no less by the great host of souls he counted as Friend. He loved his family and friends unconditionally, and he was all about exploring and sharing with those he so loved, the very breadth and the depth and the full richness that life has to offer until his very last moment. He was one of God’s truly exceptional sons and simply a gem of a man.
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