WHITEPIPE, CHARLES I

PVT US ARMY

WORLD WAR II

Gregory – Funeral services for Charles Whitepipe, 87, of Gregory will begin at 2 p.m. Friday, June 30, 2006, at the Community Hall in Gregory.

A prayer service will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, June 29, at the Episcopal church in Gregory. He is believed to be one of the last two South Dakota Lakota Code Talkers of World War II.

Charles Whitepipe was born July 7, 1918, at Wood, the son of Ward and Ella (Hawk) Whitepipe. He grew up around Bad Nation and attended the Pierre Indian Boarding School and then graduated valedictorian from Mission High School. He began school at Wahpeton School of Science in electrical engineering when he was inducting into military service during World War II. He served in the Pacific as a "forward radio observer," which in later years was revealed as being a "Code Talker." His long service on isolated posts in tropical conditions required that he be hospitalized for an extended period. After his medical discharge, he returned to South Dakota.

He married Lorraine Prue on Oct. 15, 1947. They made their home in O'Kreek, and later he became a lineman for the city of Winner. In 1949, he became a lineman for Rosebud Electric in Gregory – a position he held until his retirement in 1982.

Survivors are his children, Lillian Middlesworth (Wayne) of Winner, Charles Jr., Gayle and Gary Whitepipe, all of Gregory, and Bryan Whitepipe of Sioux Falls; 10 grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; a stepsister, Rose Blue Thunder of Mission; and many nieces

Charles was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Lorraine, a son Elmer Whitepipe, an infant son, four brothers and one sister.

The Capital Journal June 28, 2006

Charles Irving Whitepipe