John Stephen Ingles, age 93 of Columbus, N.C. peacefully passed away on July 6, 2016. He was predeceased by his wife of 60 years, Audrey Primrose Ingles in 2011. Survivors include three children, John S. Ingles, Jr. (Susie) of Greenville, S.C., Paul A. Ingles (Susan Churchill) of Albuquerque, N.M. and Elizabeth I. Christensen (Eric) of Bothell, Wash. He is also survived by five grandchildren, Jay, Sally and Andy of Greenville, S.C. and Grace and Carl of Bothell, Wash.

John, the son of Major General Harry C. Ingles and Grace Salisbury Ingles, was born on December 1, 1922 in Manila, the Philippine Islands where his father was stationed at the time.  John and his sisters, Martha and Mary, grew up on military bases around the country. He was a graduate of Western High School (June 1940), Washington, D.C. and began his college career at Virginia Military Institute (VMI) in Lexington, Va. the following September. At the age of 21, he was called into active service, and served from 1944 to 1946 in the European Theater in Patton’s army, where he saw action in some of the fiercest fighting on the war, including the Battle of the Bulge. He served as a First Lieutenant in the 80^th Infantry Division and was awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received in action and the Bronze Star Medal for heroism. He returned to VMI after the war and was a distinguished graduate in June 1947 with a degree in civil engineering. He was awarded the Jackson-Hope Medal upon graduation. In 1986, he wrote and self-published the book “A Soldier’s Passage” about his WWII experiences.

During the Korean War, he was called to active duty and served from 1951–1952 in Germany. He received an MA in industrial management as a Sloan Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1961. John was employed for 35 years by the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company in Washington, D.C. where he met his beloved Audrey. They were married in 1951 and enjoyed life together in Washington, D.C., Summit, N.J., Boston, Mass., Lake Wylie, S.C. and Columbus, N.C. He retired from the C&P Telephone in 1982 as Assistant Vice President of Corporate Planning. He resided at Tryon Estates, Columbus, N.C. since 1997.

John was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and friend. He treated all with dignity and respect. A truer gentleman has never lived. His hobbies included golf, which he played until his mid 80s, reading, writing, listening to music and watching sports. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of both big band and jazz standard music and baseball. He was a loyal Boston Red Sox fan.

A memorial service will be held at Tryon Estates on Friday, August 5, 2016 at 3:30 p.m. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Rutherford County, P.O. Box 336, Forest City, NC, 28043 or Tryon Staff Christmas Fund, C/O Tryon Estates, 617 Laurel Lake Drive, Columbus, NC 28722.

An online guest register is available at www.mcfarlandfuneralchapel.com.

McFarland Funeral Chapel
Tryon, N.C.