Charlie Ward Satterwhite

Charlie Ward Satterwhite Jr. passed away Feb. 1, 2025. He graduated from Cary High School in 1959 and served with the U.S. Naval Air from 1959 to 1963. He remained close with both his grade school friends and those he made during his service and cherished those relationships deeply throughout his life. If you were a friend of his, you were a friend forever. 

Charlie went on to become the owner and operator for Bushranger Fence Company in Morrisville for nearly 50 years. He and his wife, Susan (née Cartier), lived in Cary until the early 1990s, when they moved to Pittsboro. Around that time, a mutual friend told Melissa Wooldridge that Charlie and Susan needed help with their business.

Over the next 30 or so years, Melissa’s family and Susan’s siblings’ children grew into a warm and loving extended family of youngsters and adults alike, whom Charlie cared for greatly. If you were one of his “kids” and called him Pop-Pop, Pops, Big Daddy or just Charlie, he thought of you as family and loved you always. 

Charlie belonged to the Triangle Wildlife Hunting Club, Bluegrass Bassmasters fishing club and Topsail Offshore Fishing Club for years and made many lifelong friends through these hobbies. He loved nature, animals and being outdoors especially, and taught the young people around him that every being, great and small, had a purpose.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Charlie Sr. and Jennie, and his brother, Jim. Charlie leaves behind his loving wife, Susan, their faithful dog, Dexter, and sweet donkey, Jack; a sister, Barbara, and her husband, Mike, of Banner Elk; and many nieces, nephews and friends in North Carolina and across the country. He loved keeping in touch with them through calls, photos and videos. 

A family celebration of Charlie's life will be held in the near future. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Charlie’s honor to St. Jude Children’s Hospital, the Wounded Warrior Project, Chatham Animal Rescue & Education (CARE) or your local animal shelter.

Donaldson Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to serve the Satterwhite family.