Charles Strode

Charlie Clayton Strode was born in Indio, California. He has one brother and one sister still living & no children. He went into the Navy as a 20-year-old and was stationed on a big battleship. He loved to travel and saw many countries. He was very honored to serve his country and always said he would do it again. You never saw Charlie without one of his many Navy hats on, except in church. Charlie would love when he would go places where he had to wait on Kittie so he could find a serviceman he could talk to.

He went to KU and DeVry University. He started out as an electrician and became an electrical engineer. He worked for Power & Light Company for 30 years. On the side he built houses and even built his own house. He built his own airplane using the engine from a Volkswagen.

Charlie and Kittie met on a Christian website called “Equally Yoked”. Charlie asked her out and took her to dinner at EBT’s, Emery Bird Thayer which was named after a clothing store in downtown Kansas City. He had everything all set for her in an elevator in the restaurant, it was beautiful. All done in mahogany walls and brass railings. He told her on their first meeting that he didn’t talk much but on the date he talked for 2 straight hours. She thought she must have misunderstood when he said he didn’t talk much. They were married 3 months later.

They bought a house in Olathe and lived there for a year. Charlie was a farm boy and liked country living so they started looking around in small towns around Kansas City. They hit the jackpot in good old Tonganoxie. Richard Faherty came by and introduced himself and told them about a good church called Tonganoxie Christian Church. It was really different after coming from a big church. You always hear that in a small-town people are not friendly, but everyone was so gracious and now we have been at TCC going on 19 years until Charlie came down with dementia.

Charlie and Kittie then moved to California so their kids could help Kittie with Charlie, but he kept wanting to come home. They couldn’t get use to California, so they came home. Kittie could not take care of him anymore and had to put him in the Tonganoxie Nursing Home, and praise the Lord he did not have to be there long. The Lord took him home. We all know the scripture; “To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.” Charlie is now in his eternal home with the Lord.