Charles Ellsworth Owston was the only child of George Hood Owston and the sixth child of Lora Gardner Day (her five other children were born to her first husband Timothy Dalton). As a child, he went by his middle name of Ellsworth, but upon entering adulthood he chose his given name of Charles as his preferred designation.
Following his father's death in 1924, he became a resident at the Masonic Boys Home at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He graduated on April 4, 1931 from Patton Trade School in Elizabethtown. He was a varsity letterman in track and field and was also a manager for the football team. Following his graduation, he moved to Detroit where he lived with his sister Ruth for several years.
He married his wife Genevieve on 28 August 1937 at the parsonage of the First Presbyterian (now the Linway United Presbyterian Church) in East McKeesport, PA. During the first months of their marriage, they were initially residents of East McKeesport living with his mother. Upon building a home, they later settled in North Versailles. Charlie was a founding member of the Sunset Volunteer Fire Department, and was a Machinist and an Inspector at Westinghouse Air Brake Company in Wilmerding.
He was initiated in the Youghiogheny Blue Lodge #583 in McKeesport, PA on 19 December 1945 as an Entered Apprentice, as a Fellow Craft on 21 January 1946, and as a Master Mason on 26 February 1947. He earned his 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite on April 26, 1946 and subsequently was a Shriner in the Syria Temple of Pittsburgh, and a Tall Ceder of Lebanon All-O-Mon Forest in McKeesport.
As a child, he was a member of the First Presbyterian (now Linway) Church in East McKeesport and on October 31, 1954 he was immersed into Christ and became a member of the Bryn Mawr Church of Christ in White Oak, PA. At Bryn Mawr, he was a deacon, Sunday School teacher, secretary of the missions' society, and song leader. His son Charles has been the minister of this same congregation since 1981.
He played guitar, piano, and steel guitar. In the 1930s he played washtub bass in a local jug band.
He had three children: Charles Edward Owston, Dr. John Alva Owston, and Dr. James Martin Owston.
Following his father's death in 1924, he became a resident at the Masonic Boys Home at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He graduated on April 4, 1931 from Patton Trade School in Elizabethtown. He was a varsity letterman in track and field and was also a manager for the football team. Following his graduation, he moved to Detroit where he lived with his sister Ruth for several years.
He married his wife Genevieve on 28 August 1937 at the parsonage of the First Presbyterian (now the Linway United Presbyterian Church) in East McKeesport, PA. During the first months of their marriage, they were initially residents of East McKeesport living with his mother. Upon building a home, they later settled in North Versailles. Charlie was a founding member of the Sunset Volunteer Fire Department, and was a Machinist and an Inspector at Westinghouse Air Brake Company in Wilmerding.
He was initiated in the Youghiogheny Blue Lodge #583 in McKeesport, PA on 19 December 1945 as an Entered Apprentice, as a Fellow Craft on 21 January 1946, and as a Master Mason on 26 February 1947. He earned his 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite on April 26, 1946 and subsequently was a Shriner in the Syria Temple of Pittsburgh, and a Tall Ceder of Lebanon All-O-Mon Forest in McKeesport.
As a child, he was a member of the First Presbyterian (now Linway) Church in East McKeesport and on October 31, 1954 he was immersed into Christ and became a member of the Bryn Mawr Church of Christ in White Oak, PA. At Bryn Mawr, he was a deacon, Sunday School teacher, secretary of the missions' society, and song leader. His son Charles has been the minister of this same congregation since 1981.
He played guitar, piano, and steel guitar. In the 1930s he played washtub bass in a local jug band.
He had three children: Charles Edward Owston, Dr. John Alva Owston, and Dr. James Martin Owston.
Charles Ellsworth Owston was the only child of George Hood Owston and the sixth child of Lora Gardner Day (her five other children were born to her first husband Timothy Dalton). As a child, he went by his middle name of Ellsworth, but upon entering adulthood he chose his given name of Charles as his preferred designation.
Following his father's death in 1924, he became a resident at the Masonic Boys Home at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He graduated on April 4, 1931 from Patton Trade School in Elizabethtown. He was a varsity letterman in track and field and was also a manager for the football team. Following his graduation, he moved to Detroit where he lived with his sister Ruth for several years.
He married his wife Genevieve on 28 August 1937 at the parsonage of the First Presbyterian (now the Linway United Presbyterian Church) in East McKeesport, PA. During the first months of their marriage, they were initially residents of East McKeesport living with his mother. Upon building a home, they later settled in North Versailles. Charlie was a founding member of the Sunset Volunteer Fire Department, and was a Machinist and an Inspector at Westinghouse Air Brake Company in Wilmerding.
He was initiated in the Youghiogheny Blue Lodge #583 in McKeesport, PA on 19 December 1945 as an Entered Apprentice, as a Fellow Craft on 21 January 1946, and as a Master Mason on 26 February 1947. He earned his 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite on April 26, 1946 and subsequently was a Shriner in the Syria Temple of Pittsburgh, and a Tall Ceder of Lebanon All-O-Mon Forest in McKeesport.
As a child, he was a member of the First Presbyterian (now Linway) Church in East McKeesport and on October 31, 1954 he was immersed into Christ and became a member of the Bryn Mawr Church of Christ in White Oak, PA. At Bryn Mawr, he was a deacon, Sunday School teacher, secretary of the missions' society, and song leader. His son Charles has been the minister of this same congregation since 1981.
He played guitar, piano, and steel guitar. In the 1930s he played washtub bass in a local jug band.
He had three children: Charles Edward Owston, Dr. John Alva Owston, and Dr. James Martin Owston.
Following his father's death in 1924, he became a resident at the Masonic Boys Home at Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania. He graduated on April 4, 1931 from Patton Trade School in Elizabethtown. He was a varsity letterman in track and field and was also a manager for the football team. Following his graduation, he moved to Detroit where he lived with his sister Ruth for several years.
He married his wife Genevieve on 28 August 1937 at the parsonage of the First Presbyterian (now the Linway United Presbyterian Church) in East McKeesport, PA. During the first months of their marriage, they were initially residents of East McKeesport living with his mother. Upon building a home, they later settled in North Versailles. Charlie was a founding member of the Sunset Volunteer Fire Department, and was a Machinist and an Inspector at Westinghouse Air Brake Company in Wilmerding.
He was initiated in the Youghiogheny Blue Lodge #583 in McKeesport, PA on 19 December 1945 as an Entered Apprentice, as a Fellow Craft on 21 January 1946, and as a Master Mason on 26 February 1947. He earned his 32nd degree in the Scottish Rite on April 26, 1946 and subsequently was a Shriner in the Syria Temple of Pittsburgh, and a Tall Ceder of Lebanon All-O-Mon Forest in McKeesport.
As a child, he was a member of the First Presbyterian (now Linway) Church in East McKeesport and on October 31, 1954 he was immersed into Christ and became a member of the Bryn Mawr Church of Christ in White Oak, PA. At Bryn Mawr, he was a deacon, Sunday School teacher, secretary of the missions' society, and song leader. His son Charles has been the minister of this same congregation since 1981.
He played guitar, piano, and steel guitar. In the 1930s he played washtub bass in a local jug band.
He had three children: Charles Edward Owston, Dr. John Alva Owston, and Dr. James Martin Owston.
