CHARLES R. OFNER
03/05/1946 - 12/31/2022
Charles Richter Ofner passed away on December
31, 2022. He is survived by his loving wife and ultimate life partner of 45 years, Diane Peek Ofner, son and spouse, Charles Lee “Charlie” and Sarah Watson Ofner of Houston, Texas, grandchildren Charles “Owen” and Carlyle Carol Ofner of Houston, Texas, brother Dr. Lee
Ofner of Colorado Springs, Colorado, nephew Jay Ofner of Honolulu, Hawaii, niece Courtney Ofner Olson of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and sister-in-law Pamela
Peek of Houston, Texas. He was preceded in death by his parents Mr. and Mrs. Charles Francis “Chili” and Ruth Ofner, and sister-in-law Cheri Ofner.
Charles was born in Washington, D.C., on March 5, 1946. After a brief move to Houston, Texas, he settled with his parents and brother in Corpus Christi, Texas, where he graduated from W.B. Ray High School in 1964. He made and maintained lifelong friendships growing up in Corpus, and he enjoyed reminiscing about those days with pallbearers Jimmy Ahern, Wallace Lundgren, Gordon Welch and Ronnie Woodson during countless visits to his hometown.
He graduated with honors from The University of
Texas at Austin in 1969 with a degree in mechanical engineering, and from the McCombs School of Business in 1971. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve from 1969 to 1975. After graduate business school, he was hired into offshore drilling company Reading & Bates Corporation by his friend, mentor and pallbearer David Carmichael. After working for R&B in
Iran and Saudi Arabia until 1975, he moved to Houston where he met his beloved, life-long partner Diane Peek. They married in Houston in 1977 after a whirlwind one-week engagement, and immediately moved to the other side of the globe to Brunei, on the island of Borneo. Diane and Charles moved to Jakarta, Indonesia, in
1979, and Singapore in 1981, where son Charlie was born. In 1983, Diane, Charles and Charlie moved to London, where they lived until 1991. Some of Charles’s fondest memories were from his days in London, where he particularly loved Mount Street Gardens, going to Harry’s Bar, attending Ascot with fellow expatriate and pallbearer
John Hrncir, and walking through Trafalgar Square on New Year’s Eve with Diane, Charlie and his parents, who often visited for the holidays. In addition to loving the city and their neighborhood of Mayfair, he loved spending time and riding horses in Gloucestershire, Southern Cotswolds, with dear friends Jack and Karin Richards. He later became a member of the Beaufort Hunt, one of the oldest fox hunting packs in England.
In 1991, Charles moved back to Houston with his “little family,” as he often fondly said. He spent the rest of his working career with Reading & Bates (later R&B Falcon) until 2001. From 1999 to 2008, Charles and Diane “straddled the pond” between Houston and Avening, Gloucestershire, where they enjoyed living almost half of each year. Despite being retired from R&B for over 20 years, Charles continued working independently in the international energy business until the day he died, often alongside long-time friend and pallbearer John Waid. Always the learner, he completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School in 2001. He also served on the board of Stewart and Stevenson Services, Inc. from 2000 to 2006.
Charles loved his family, and was dedicated to being the ultimate husband, father, father-in-law and grandfather. Known to his grandchildren as “Pop,” he enjoyed attending toddler music classes, driving school carpool, and was a fixture on the sidelines at baseball, softball, and soccer games. He also loved the Church of St. John the Divine, the Tejas Breakfast Club, playing golf and exercising at River Oaks Country Club, horseback riding, hunting, skiing, do-it-yourself home projects, the Houston Astros, reading and travel. He served on the Vestry of St. John the Divine from 2015 to 2018, and was a founding member of the Sumners Society. He also served as President of the Tejas Breakfast Club from 2012 to 2018. Members of both SJD and the
Tejas Breakfast Club often remarked about his steady and selfless leadership. He was the ultimate gentleman, and a loving and honorable man who always thought of others before himself. He will be dearly missed by his family and countless friends.
A memorial service will be held at the Church of St. John the Divine on Wednesday, January 11, at 3:00 pm. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions be made to the Church of St. John the Divine, or to the charity of choice. A reception following the service will be announced at the funeral.