John Henry Childs

John Henry Childs, 94, of Charleston, South Carolina was born July 29, 1923 to Mary and Harry Childs of Carnegie, Pennsylvania. He is survived by his loving wife Lucia after 48 years of marriage. He lived a full life and considered himself a very blessed and happy man. John passed away peacefully at Bishop Gadsden on August 19, 2017. John interrupted his engineering studies to go into the Navy for three years during WWII and was an engineering officer. He served as a Lieutenant (LTJG) on the S.S. Azurlite in the Pacific Theatre. At the end of the war he was assigned to the Woodshole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts in the summer and then to Key West Underwater Sonar Program in the winter until his discharge in 1946. John then resumed his education at today's Carnegie Mellon University, receiving a B.S. degree. He attended Harvard Business School, receiving an M.B.A. in 1951. John moved to New York City to pursue a career in marketing and advertising, joining Lever Brothers. He later moved to Cunningham and Walsh Advertising Agency as VP in charge of the Texaco account. Texaco asked him to join the corporation, and in 1977 he became General Manager of Worldwide Marketing and Advertising. In the U.S. he was responsible for the supervision of Texaco's NBC news program, The Huntley-Brinkley Report and for The Saturday Texaco Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast Live from Lincoln Center. John also brought Texaco's sponsorship of the Bob Hope All Star Comedy Specials to television and enjoyed getting to know Bob Hope off-camera. During retirement in 1991, John and Lucia found a charming cottage in Kinsale, Ireland. There they spent five months a year for 13 years, enjoying the beauty of the Southwest coast of County Cork. An avid tennis player since his youth, John became president of the Kinsale Tennis Club where he and a partner won the West Cork Senior Doubles Tennis Open, to his great delight. While on retirement John served on the board of the Good Samaritan Hospital and was active in the Civic Association of Palm Beach. In 1991, the couple visited the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, South Carolina and made the decision to make Charleston their home. In 2011 they moved to Bishop Gadsden as full-time residents. A Celebration of John's life will take place at Bishop Gadsden's Chapel on Thursday, September 7, 2017 at 1:30 P.M. A musical prelude at 1:10 P.M. will precede the service. Arrangements by J. HENRY STUHR, INC. Downtown CHAPEL. We are grateful to Bishop Gadsden for their loving care. Memorial gifts may be made to the Resident's Assistance Fund, 1 Bishop Gadsden Way, Charleston, S.C. 29412.