Orange Staff Sgt. Charlie Edward Fowler, USAF Ret., 78, of Orange, passed away Wednesday June 10, 2009, at Medical Center of Southeast Texas in Port Arthur. Funeral services will be 2 p.m., Monday, June 15, at Claybar Funeral Home Chapel in Orange. Officiating will be the Rev. Sid Thorne of First Church of God in Orange. Burial will follow at Orange Forest Lawn in West Orange. Visitation will be from 5-9 pm, Sunday, at the funeral home.

Charlie was born on Jan. 16, 1931, in Guthrie, Okla. He was the son of Lawrence Charles Fowler and Prudy Mathilda (Wileman) Fowler. Charlie was a US Air Force retired Vietnam veteran.

He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Eileen Fowler; daughter, Tina Marie Fowler; and sister, Ruby Campbell.

He is survived by his daughter, Helen VanArsdale of Orange; sons, Lawrence Fowler and his wife Billie of Starks, La., Ronald Fowler, Donald Fowler and his wife Crystal, Charlie Fowler Jr. and his wife Vicki and Garry Fowler and his wife Katherine LeBlanc all of Orange; 16 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; brother, George Fowler of Hutchinson, Kan .; sister, Geneva Mae Cliff of Gilmer; and aunt, Emma Borrson of Guthrie, Okla.

Serving as pallbearers will be Lawrence Fowler, Donald Fowler, Ronald Fowler, Charlie Fowler Jr., Garry Fowler, Donald C. Fowler, Kenneth Fowler, Dalton Fowler, Charlie Fowler III, and Billy Fowler. Honorary pallbearer will be Tommy Trosclair Jr.