Charles Cordell Jenkins (1924 - 2019)

Born 24 Nov 1924 in Phelps, Missouri, United States

Ancestors

Died 15 Nov 2019 at age 94 in Phelps, Missouri, United States

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Biography

Charles Cordell Jenkins Sr. passed away on November 15, 2019 at the age of 94. He was born on November 24, 1924 in rural Phelps County near the community of Relfe to the late James Morrison and Mary Lena (Robins) Jenkins and he was delivered by his granny Robins. He was raised in rural Phelps County in the communities of Relfe, Flat, Edgar Springs, Duke, and Democrat Ridge. He attended school at several rural Phelps County schools and Bloodland High School. In early 1943 he was drafted into the Army and rode the Queen Mary across the Atlantic where he was stationed in Belgium. On September 25, 1948 he married Juanita Hobbs and to this union four children were born.

When he returned home from World War II, he traveled to St Louis and started working for Wagner Electric where he became a machinist. He also owned and operated a gas station in Millstadt, IL, joined the carpenters union and worked as a union carpenter, and started his own construction company. He purchased a farm in Maries County that he truly loved and spent many hours working to get back into production. Many fond family memories were made on the farm; from family holiday gatherings to sitting and visiting on the breezeway on hot summer nights to putting up hay, feeding cattle, and cutting wood. He was truly a family man and enjoyed time spent with family; he got joy in seeing his kids and grandkids grow and prosper. He enjoyed telling stories to his kids and grandkids about his childhood in rural Phelps county. He had a very vivid memory of his childhood and those stories depicted his true character. One such story was how close he was to his grandpa Robins who was blind and Cordell spent lots of time during his childhood leading him around serving as his eyes. He also told about working for a local farmer at 12 years old and receiving a man’s wage. He loved the outdoors and would tell about laying down on his belly as a boy to drink out of the spring at Relfe, playing yard games with his siblings and cousins at his grandparent’s farm, and sliding down the hill by the Relfe school when it snowed. He grew up during the Great Depression and had an excellent work ethic; he enjoyed working and got satisfaction in seeing a job well done. Throughout his life, he spent time reading the Bible and was a spiritual man. He was a member of the Bethel Primitive Baptist Church in Flat, MO and was proud of the Primitive Baptist preachers in his family.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Junaita (Hobbs) Jenkins; brothers: Don Jenkins, Tom Jenkins, and Larry Jenkins; sisters: Bonnie Harris and Betty Glasscock; grandchildren: Jeff Miller and Marla Vogt.

A funeral service For Charles Jenkins Sr. will be held at noon on Tuesday, November 19, 2019 at the Null and Son Funeral Home in Rolla. Interment will follow in the Smith Cemetery near Edgar Springs. A visitation for family and friends will be held prior to the service Tuesday beginning at 11 am at the funeral home.

Sources

• United States Census, 1930, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHNZ-Y98

• United States Census, 1940, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K77P-JZG

• Missouri, World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1940-1945, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLFM-NKKQ

• Missouri, County Marriage, Naturalization, and Court Records, 1800-1991 (1948), https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QP82-9WWL

• United States Census, 1950, https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:6FM1-VMLR

• https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/204791423/charles_cordell_jenkins