Charles Moritz

Charles Edward Moritz, Jr., 96, passed away March 20, 2025, at his home in Arlington, Texas. He was Charlie to his wife of 67 years, Chuck to his friends, Dad to his five children, and Grandpa or Grampy to his six grandchildren.

Charles was born January 2, 1929, in South Bend, Indiana to Charles and Bertha Moritz.

He dedicated his life to three pillars: God, family, and hard work. Baseball and banana pudding ranked highly, too.

After high school, he enlisted in the Army Air Force, attended Indiana University until he began working for Bendix Corporation to support his family. He was provider and protector, often telling his children, “I tried to give you everything you needed and most of what you wanted.”

He knew what he wanted - quick to decide, quicker to act. In the spring of 1957, he met a pretty, small-town girl named Verna Jean. He proposed four months later, and they married that fall. With the help of his brothers and friends, he built a two-story home with a big front porch.

It wasn’t long, though, and he moved his family of seven to Thousand Oaks, California to take a job at Menasco Manufacturing. He soon transferred to Texas where he worked his way up to Vice President in his company that provided landing gears to the commercial and military aerospace industry.

He was a life-long learner, valuing education. One of his proudest achievements was putting all five of his children through college. After retirement, he tutored children in reading and arithmetic.

He had a mind for math and heart of gold, which he could quote the spot price of most every day. He was an astute investor - presciently jumping in on a wacky concept involving towers and portable telephones.

Through the years, he enjoyed coaching his sons’ Little League baseball teams, bowling, coin-collecting, even building a car from a kit. He bought junkyard wrecks and was so confident in his fix that he let his children drive them.

He was big sports fan - Notre Dame, Cowboys, Mavericks, but mostly the Texas Rangers. For years, he and Verna would make annual road trips to Spring Training. He lived to see them win the World Series.

He was intrepid and did not suffer fools or bellyachers. Even as his eyesight failed, he was working out at the neighborhood YMCA at age 94. He bravely did everything he could to beat cancer until his heart had endured enough. He will be dearly missed by those who loved him.

Charles is preceded in death by his son, Michael Moritz, and his parents.

He is survived by his beloved wife, Verna Moritz, sons Chuck Moritz of Fort Worth and Greg Moritz (Gayle) of Arlington; daughters Marilyn Tarr (Dave) of San Antonio; and Michelle Moritz (Mike) of San Marcos; brothers Jim (Ginger) Moritz and Pat Moritz of South Bend, Indiana; sister Virginia Hukill of Lancaster, Pa.; and granddaughters Stacy, Angela, Ashley, Alyssa, Zoe, and Samantha.

Charles’ family invites friends to visit 2-4 pm Saturday, April 5, at Wade Family Funeral Home, 4140 West Pioneer Parkway, to share a hug, a memory, and some banana pudding in celebration of a wonderful man and life.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Wounded Warriors listed below.