Charles W. Wampler Jr., a poultry industry leader, former state legislator and major local philanthropist, died Sunday at his Dayton home. He was 101.
Wampler and his late brother, William, founded Wampler Foods Inc. Their father, Charles Wampler Sr., is widely considered the man behind the start of the modern poultry industry.
“I just think he’s somebody who had a huge impact on many lives in many different ways, from being a key leader within the poultry industry to being a member of the General Assembly to his service on many boards,” Hobey Bauhan, president of the Virginia Poultry Federation (VPF), said of Wampler. “It seemed like he was somebody who touched a lot of lives on different levels, from his volunteer activities at the Sentara RMH Medical Center to leading big, important enterprises.”
A lifelong Democrat, Wampler continued to play a role in Virginia politics late in life, including his support of Mark Warner in his first campaign for the U.S. Senate. “I will always be grateful to Charlie for his early support, dating back to my first campaign for the Senate in 1996, and I will miss his friendship,” Warner said in a statement Monday night upon hearing of Wampler’s death.
“Few people gave more of themselves to the community and civic life of the Shenandoah Valley than Charlie Wampler,” Warner said. “Whether it was as a business leader, serving in the state legislature, or working with one of the many charitable organizations and institutions that he championed, Charlie was always determined to give back.”
Jeff Ishee, a local multimedia journalist who has covered Virginia agriculture for more than 20 years, said Wampler left an impressive mark on the industry. “Charlie Wampler Jr. was widely regarded for many reasons, but his role in the creation of the modern turkey industry was instrumental for Rockingham County being known around the world as the ‘Turkey Capital,’” “He was a friend of the farmer and was highly respected by his colleagues in agribusiness,” Ishee said.
Wampler served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1954 to 1966, on the Virginia Board of Agriculture for eight years, and on James Madison University’s and Virginia Tech’s boards of visitors.
He also was president and general manager of the Rockingham County Fair Association for 25 years. Wampler helped found both the fair and, with his late wife Dorothy, the United Way of Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.
The United Way, which gives out the Charlie Wampler Jr. Community Builder Award annually, honored the couple by creating the Charles W. Jr. and Dorothy Wampler Society in 2014. The award recognizes people whose lifetime donations to the local agency are more than $20,000.
Wampler also was a volunteer greeter at the Sentara RMH cafe beyond his 100th birthday and routinely could be found clearing trays there. His daughter, Barb Melby, said that her father cherished the community where he lived his entire life. “He was born and bred here,” she said, “and he valued so much the community. He had a wonderful spirit of volunteerism, and when somebody asked him to do something, he did it out of that strong sense of the community that he loved.”
For all of his accomplishments, Melby said she thinks her father most cherished donations he made that helped save lives. “I think Dad was proudest of the 171 pints of blood that he donated to RMH and Virginia Blood Services.
Grandle Funeral Home in Broadway is in charge of arrangements, which were incomplete Monday evening.
