Charles Edgar Croley
11/16/1933 – 8/13/2022
Long-time Caldwell County resident Charles Edgar Croley, 88, died suddenly of heart failure on August 13, 2022. At the time of his death, Charles was comfortably settled at the Heartlands Senior Living Community in Ellicott City, MD, near the home of his son Curtis and daughter-in-law Becky Weaver.
Charles was born November 16, 1933, in Houston, TX, the middle of three boys, to Anna Lorine Allen Croley and Joseph Marvin Croley. Charles grew up in Houston and graduated from Lamar High School. He served two years in the U.S. Army, discharging at Fort Eustis, VA in April 1956. By that point, he had met the love of his life, Patricia Shreve Ruffin. Charles and Pat married on June 17, 1956, a week after Pat graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA.
The young couple moved to Blacksburg, VA where Charles began university studies towards a degree in Agronomy from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virgina Tech) and Pat began teaching sixth grade in Blacksburg public schools. Charles graduated in 1960.
The couple then moved to College Station, TX where Charles started a master’s program at Texas A&M University and Pat continued her teaching career. However, within months of their arrival in Texas, Pat became ill with Hodgkin’s disease. Thus began a four-year ordeal of difficult, and often experimental, treatments and numerous hospital stays for Pat. She lost her battle with Hodgkin’s in December 1964, but not before she and Charles had a son, Curtis. Pat’s death at age 30 left Charles a single father of a toddler. It was an incalculable loss that significantly changed the course of his life.
During his forty-five years in Caldwell County, Charles was married to Elsie Forbes Germer and both were very active in the Maxwell Social Club and the Maxwell Hermann Sons lodge. Charles was an agent for Hermann Sons Life for many years.
Charles will be remembered as a kind, considerate, and friendly man. He was easy to like, and he easily liked others in return. Though he had many struggles and tough breaks in life, he was not one to complain. He was a survivor, and most especially, a loving father, an equally devoted grandfather, and a delighted great grandfather.
In addition to Pat, Charles is preceded in death by his parents and brother, James M. “Jim” Croley. He is survived by son Curtis and daughter-in-law Becky Weaver; brother Joseph R. “Joe Bob” Croley and sister-in-law Annie Lee Croley; sister-in-law LaNelle Heinrich; brother-in-law John Ruffin; grandchildren Matthew and Grace; granddaughter-in-law Alexandra Casanave; darling great-granddaughter, Della, and many other family members and friends.
Charles’ ashes will be buried alongside his parents and brother Jim in a family plot at Woodlawn Cemetery in Houston. A graveside memorial is scheduled for November 12.
