Charles Francis Minich

Charles Francis Minich, 92 years old, of Abington, PA / Cocoa Beach, FL passed quietly of natural causes Tuesday December 13, 2016 at his home in Cocoa Beach. He was born to Charles A Minich and Mary Weiss Minich, June 16, 1924,in the Holmesburg Section of Northeast Philadelphia, PA. He was the oldest son of 6 children: 3 girls, 3 boys.Charlie, as he was known as, attended St Dominic Elementary School and continued to North Catholic High School. A typical young man, he loved the local professional sports teams: The Athletics, The Philllies, and The Eagles. His passion for a sport was Notre Dame Football. A self-proclaimed member of the Subway Alumni, he never missed a broadcast of a game! Along with his love of sports, he also had a fascination for airplanes and flying. He enjoyed building flying models of airplanes down to the last detail. He was a member of the North Catholic High School Flying Club, which was run by his uncle, Fr. Minich. When WWII broke out, he dropped out of high school to enlist in the Army Air Corps. He did not make it as a pilot, but continued his service from 1942 to 1945. He was a member of the 8th Air Force, 453 Bomb Group stationed in Old Buckingham, England. He volunteered for active combat duty on a B24 Liberator when he found out the previous crew member was killed in action. Knowing Morris Code, he replaced the fallen radio operator. He was credited for 15 Combat Missions, bombing targets in Germany. After the war, he was honorably discharged from the Army. He returned to NE Philadelphia and completed his High School education receiving his diploma from North Catholic High. From there, he attended LaSalle College for Business Administration. Although he did not complete his degree, he used his business sense and entrepreneurial skills. In his career, he was an owner of residential home supplymanufacturingcompany. He eventually moved into sales representing, cash registers and computers, home building supplies, industrial and fleet tires, and new cars. He met his bride to be at a Catholic social dance, Bernadette Marie Kohl, from the Bridesburg Section of Philadelphia. In September 1952 they were married. This year they celebrated their 64th Wedding Anniversary. Charles is survived by his wife Bernadette, his sons (and their wives) Charles Jr, Raymond (Ann Bulger), and Mark (Hilvi), and his granddaughter Courtney. There will be a funeral mass Monday Dec 19 at Our Saviour Catholic Church, 5301 N Atlantic Ave, Cocoa Beach, FL 32931. Closed casket visitation and reflection from 10:30 AM with a mass starting at 11:30AM. You may Sign Charles' guestbook at www.beckmanwilliamson.com Visitation DEC 19. 10:30 AM - 11:30 AM Church Of Our Saviour Catholic Church 5301 North Atlantic Avenue Cocoa Beach, FL, US, 32931 Mass Of Christian Burial DEC 19. 11:30 AM Church Of Our Saviour Catholic Church 5301 North Atlantic Avenue Cocoa Beach, FL, US, 32931