Charles Robert Irving

Charles Robert Irving, 85, passed away Saturday, November 17, 2018 in Dallas, Texas, of natural causes.


He was born on September 24, 1933 in Tulsa, Oklahoma (which he didn’t like to mention because he considered himself a Texan!) to Charles and Bobbie Hitt Irving. He grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he attended W.B. Ray High School. After two years of community college and four years in the Air Force, he attended and then graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1959. He married Carolyn Nesrsta in 1960 and they had four children before divorcing in 1978. After marriage, he lived in Knoxville, Tennessee; Dallas, Texas; Playa del Rey, California; and Palatine, Illinois before settling back in Dallas for the remainder of his life. His early career was spent as a marketing executive with Coty and Helene Curtis before later buying a beauty supply company, which he built into a successful salon design and equipment outfitter. He retired in the early 2000s.


Charles (known as Bobby during his childhood and later as Charley to his friends) was a founding member and president of the Men’s Club at All Saints Catholic Church in north Dallas. He joined the Cooper Aerobics Center in Dallas in its early days in the 1970s and was an enthusiastic member until very recently. He was proud of his running mileage tally, completing a marathon in 1978 and running the last leg of the New York City marathon with his daughter in 1993. In more recent years, his Aerobics Center attendance was less about fitness and more about the camaraderie of his daily coffee klatch with his much-loved “buds and bud-ettes.”


He is survived by his beloved children: Christy Williams and her husband Scott of Highlands Ranch, Colorado; Laura Speights and her husband Mike of Colleyville, Texas; Chip Irving and his wife Laurea of Corinth, Texas; and Anne Irving-Likes and her husband Craig of Driftwood, Texas. He adored his five grandchildren: Katie Speights and her husband Kellen Wall of Huntsville, Alabama; Maggie Williams of Pasadena, California; Jay Speights of Dallas, Texas; Allie Williams of Boulder, Colorado; and Matthew Speights of Colleyville, Texas. He is also survived by his brother, David Irving and his wife Jean of Portland, Texas (and their daughter Beverly Wallace); and his sister, JoAnn Luckie of Corpus Christi, Texas (and her son David Cole).


Special thanks to the staff of the Forum at Park Lane, where he was well taken care of for the last two years.


Charles was a foodie and he loved literature, cars, jazz, dogs, nicknames, travel, dancing, and stories well told. But most of all he loved his kids and grand-kids and was very proud of them. He was an exceptionally loving and demonstrative father and grandfather, always generous with hugs and "kissos." His family carries on his loving spirit and love of music, appreciation for good food and great stories, and entrepreneurial spirit. They will carry his memory forever in their hearts.


Memorial will be held on Sunday, December 2, at 2:00 PM at Lucas Funeral Home, 700 W. Wall St., Grapevine, TX 76051, with reception following at the Speights home.