Funeral service for SFC (Retired) Charles E. "Charlie" Sparks, will be at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Becker-Rabon Funeral Home Chapel, with Pastor Ahren Reiter, Holy Cross Lutheran Church officiating

Burial with full military honors will be at Fort Sill National Cemetery, Elgin, Oklahoma.

SFC (Retired) Charles E. "Charlie" Sparks, of Lawton passed away Monday, April 14, 2025, in Lawton at the age of 88.

Charlie was born on January 6, 1937, in Isonville, Kentucky, to Vencil and Anna Lorene Sparks. He enlisted in the United States Air Force at age 17 in 1954, serving for 13 years before finishing his 20 years of service in the United States Army and retiring in 1974. He served two tours of duty in Vietnam (1968-69 and 1971) and was awarded several service and commendation medals during his military career, including the Bronze Star and Bronze Star with 1st Oak Leaf Cluster.

After his military retirement, Charlie settled in Lawton and was the owner and operator of Charlie Sparks Auto Sales from 1975 until closing the business and retiring in 2001. He married Rita Eichner Wirtz on February 14, 2001, in Burkburnett, Texas.

Charlie was a friend to all and was highly successful in business due to his hands-on approach, his integrity-filled salesmanship, and most of all, his charming personality marked by a Southern sense of humor, colorful storytelling, and belief in the value of every human being he encountered. He was an avid golfer and fisherman.

Charlie is survived by his wife Rita, of the home; his stepson, Marc Wirtz and wife Rebecca, Missouri City, Texas; two sons, Michael Sparks of Boiling Springs, South Carolina, and David Sparks of Little River, South Carolina; a daughter, Barbara Teague of Spartanburg, South Carolina; and two brothers, Lloyd Sparks of Fairborn, Ohio, and Roger Sparks of Morehead, Kentucky.

He was preceded in death by his parents and by a brother, Bobby Lee Sparks.

An online guest book and sympathy cards are available at www.beckerfuneral.com