Charles Reuben Williams
MAJ in 3132nd Signal Service Co
ASN#298867
Born 1910 in IN, Died 1987
Other residence(s): Warsaw, IN
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
College education before the war: 2 years
Charles Williams, known variously as Charlie, Reuben, or Reub, was born on December 6, 1910 in Warsaw, IN, and lived his whole life there. His father was the publisher of the Warsaw Times-Union, and his grandfather had been the newspaper's founder. He was the younger of two sons; his older brother Raymond was 18 years older than he, and both of them would spend their lives involved with the newspaper as well.
Prior to the war, Charlie had two years of college and married Helen Smith in the summer of 1937. They were the parents of one son, Michael, born in 1938. By 1940, Charlie was working as advertising manager for the Times-Union.
Charlie had been an infantry officer in the Reserves in the early 1930s, and he enlisted in the Army with the rank of LT in July, 1941. He earned several promotions during the following three years, achieving the rank of MAJ by 1944. He served as commanding officer of the 3132 Signal Service Company during the war.
He was discharged from the Army on January 16, 1946 with the rank of LTC, returned home to Warsaw, and once again took up his newspaper responsibilities.
Charlie's father died in 1950, and his older brother Raymond took over as president and publisher of the Times-Union. When Raymond retired from day-to-day responsibility, he remained chairman of the paper and its radio station, WRSW until his death in 1981. Charlie, who had founded WRSW, took over as publisher of the paper. Charlie's son Michael served as general manager.
According to his obituary, Charlie "served as publisher of the Times-Union up until his death, although he was not involved in the day-to-day operations of the newspaper for the last ten years [1977-1987]. The Times-Union went through many technological changes during Mr. Williams' tenure as publisher, including the arrival of computers and offset printing. Circulation also grew at the newspaper to parallel the Warsaw community's growth."
Norm Hagg, general manager of the newspaper at the time of Charlie's death, said that Charlie's credo for the Times-Union was "to publish and disseminate the news of the day accurately, without bias, neither with favor nor with fear of recrimination."
Charlie also served for 18 years as a director of the First National Bank of Warsaw, and was on the board of the Baker Boys Club for 25 years.
He died on June 26, 1987 and is buried at Oakwood Cemetery in Warsaw. Ownership of the Times-Union is still in the hands of the Williams family as of this writing (July 2021).
Sources:
1910 birth record
1930 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/120871465:6224?ssrc=pt&tid=1620083&pid=-1909913125
1932 article in the Indianapolis News (IN) re his appointment to LT
https://www.newspapers.com/image/37504499/?terms=charles%20reuben%20williams&match=1
1940 census
https://www.ancestry.com/discoveryui-content/view/55280950:2442?ssrc=pt&tid=1620083&pid=-1909913125
1944 article in The Indianapolis Star (IN) re his promotion from CPT to MAJ
https://www.newspapers.com/image/104914567/?terms=charles%20reuben%20williams&match=1
1950 father's obituary in the South Bend Tribune (IN)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/514881532/?terms=charles%20reuben%20williams&match=1
1981 brother's obituary in the South Bend Tribune (IN)
https://www.newspapers.com/clip/49872802/obituary-for-raymond-b-williams-aged/
1987 death certificate
1987 Find a Grave record
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/107186079/c-reuben-williams
1987 VA death record
1987 obituary in the South Bend Tribune (IN)
https://www.newspapers.com/image/518383254/?article=6eea29c9-ef22-4bd1-b349-e05307ad5aed