- Date Of Birth: January 4, 1945
- Date Of Death: November 5, 2011
- State: Missouri
Rev. Charles Milton Pettijohn, Colonel, USAF (Ret.), of Hermann, Missouri, went to be with the Lord after a prolonged battle with lung cancer on November 5, 2011 at the age of 66. He was born on January 4, 1945 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma to Thornton and Oda Lee Pettijohn, the youngest of six children. Charles graduated from US Grant High School in 1962. In 1966, he graduated magna cum laude from Central State College with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Education. He later received a Master of Fine Arts in Music at Arizona State University, and a Master of Arts in Political Science from the University of Auburn.
Charles taught Music at Mount St. Mary’s and Star Spencer High Schools in Oklahoma City before joining the US Air Force for a highly decorated military career of 27 years. A highlight of his military service included being one of 33 Air Force provisional Wing Commanders in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia during the 1st Gulf War. He earned two Legions of Merit, along with numerous other awards and decorations, retiring at the rank of Colonel on Jan 1,1994.
After retiring from the military, Charles had a successful career as a mortgage broker in Colorado Springs, Colorado for 6 years before entering seminary. He earned a Master of Divinity with honors from Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri in 2003. Ordained by the Presbyterian Church of America, Reverend Pettijohn served as the Pastor at Swiss Evangelical Reformed Church for 9 years.
Even with his many academic and professional accomplishments and achievements, Charles will be best remembered as a devoted follower of Christ and as a loving family man. Charles is survived by his wife, Kay; children Christy and David Pond of Morrison, CO; Cathy Pettijohn-Russell and Ryan Russell of Nichols Hills, OK; and Lee and Keely Pettijohn of Hermann, MO; grandchildren Emma, Atticus, Julie, Aramis, Eragon, Elly, Owen and Wesley; brothers Andy Pettijohn of Olathe, Kansas, and Larry Pettijohn of Oklahoma City, and their families.
