Obituary of Vernon C Searles

GASTON—Funeral services for Vernon Cecil Searles, Jr., 78, of Gaston, will be held at 4:00 p.m., Saturday, December 21, 2013 at Thompson Funeral Home, Lexington Chapel, 4720 Augusta Road, Lexington, SC 29073. Reverend Jim Jackson will officiate. Burial will be held on Monday, December 23, 2013 at 10:00 a.m. in Ft. Jackson National Cemetery. The family will greet friends from 6-8 p.m. Friday, December 20, 2013 at the funeral home. Mr. Searles, beloved husband of Margaret Meyer Searles, passed away on Monday, December 16, 2013. Born in Newport, KY, he was a son of the late Vernon Cecil Searles, Sr. and Julie Ivy Marshall Searles. He proudly served in the Marine Corp for 20 years and retired in 1974. During his years of service he served two tours of duty in Vietnam as a Gunnery Sgt. After retirement he worked at Ft. Jackson until his second retirement in 1997. Surviving in addition to his loving wife, of 55 years, Marge Searles of Gaston; children, Vernon Cecil Searles III of Gaston, Vonna Caldwell of Electra, TX, Vicky Searles of Lexington, Vera James (David) of Cayce and Vanessa McIver (Jamie) of Swansea; eleven grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a brother, two sisters and a son-in-law Charles Caldwell.