Frank Khare Obituary

Frank Khare, Jr. SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV - Frank Cornelius "Joe" Khare, Jr., of Shepherdstown, WV, died on August 8, 2025, after a long illness brought on by two things he loved as a younger man: playing football and serving his country. Born on July 24, 1944, in Charleston, SC, Joe was the only child of Frank Cornelius Khare, Sr., and Catherine Louise Hooper Khare. His adventurous spirit was evident as a toddler, when a Charleston police officer escorted him a mile back home after encountering Joe sailing his model boat on Colonial Lake early one morning. He had a passion for sports and was a football, basketball, baseball and track letterman in high school. An offensive and defensive tackle, Joe played in the Shrine Bowl and the North-South All-star game. After graduating from Walterboro High School, he played for the Citadel on a full athletic scholarship. Joe also inherited his mother's gift at the piano and would spontaneously sit in with the band at parties, including with Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs. While at the Citadel, he enlisted in the SC Air National Guard and became a fighter pilot, as his dad had been. Joe volunteered to fight in Vietnam and was awarded the air medal for his service there, which included Agent Orange exposure. Following his deployment, Joe received his degree from the University of South Carolina and remained in the Guard, flying F-102, A-7, and F-16 jets at McEntire Air National Guard Base. He also worked at McEntire as a full-time civil servant, starting as a technician; he was named Base Commander in 1984. Two years later, he was named Commander of the 169th Tactical Fighter Group at McEntire. Joe approached his military service as servant leader and of the numerous honors he received during his career, he was especially proud when the enlisted personnel at McEntire recognized him. In 1990, he moved to Washington, where he served as the Air National Guard's Chief of Personnel at the National Guard Bureau. After retiring as a colonel in 1997, Joe was a consultant and received an M.S. degree in information management from the University of Maryland University College. Joe won respect and friends through his clean and crisp sense of humor; he instructed more than one person that Charleston was the special place where two rivers converged to form the Atlantic Ocean. He was a member of the Order of Daedalians, the National Guard Association of the U. S., Air and Space Forces Association, and the American Legion. He received the Patriot Medal for exceptional service to the National Society Sons of the American Revolution after serving as president of his local chapter and of the West Virginia State Society. Joe is survived by his wife, Cheryl Alexander Brown of Shepherdstown; son, Christopher Wescoat Khare and his wife, Noelle Van Doren Khare of Brevard, NC; daughter, Laura Noel Behre and her husband, Robert Fuller Behre of Charleston, SC; and grandsons, Henry Wescoat Khare of Washington, DC; Anthony Bergen Khare of Brevard, NC; and Fuller Wescoat Behre and Charles Hall Whaley Behre, both of Charleston, SC. A graveside service will be held at 10 a.m. on August 23, 2025, at Elmwood Cemetery, Shepherdstown, WV. Friends will be received following the service in the Trinity Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall in Shepherdstown.