A longtime architect who designed a number of greater Wilmington health care and educational facilities was laid to rest Monday morning, according to an obituary notice.
Charles H. Boney, who, with other architects in his family, created an enduring legacy of design in the Wilmington community, died Friday at his residence, the obituary stated. He was 89.
In the European theater during World War II, Boney, a member of the U.S. Army Combat Engineers, built bridges in advance of Patton’s march towards the Battle of the Bulge and then to Berlin, according to the obituary. After the war, Boney studied architecture at N.C. State University, becoming alternate winner of the Paris Prize in Architecture and graduating in 1950.
Following graduation, Boney joined his father and two brothers at Boney Architects, the firm his father had founded in 1922. He subsequently became the firm’s president and chief designer, the obituary stated.
Health care design was a special interest of his, according to the obituary. He was chief architect for the design of New Hanover Regional Medical Center, Pender Memorial Hospital, Duplin General Hospital and Cape Fear Memorial Hospital. Other notable projects in the Wilmington area included Cooperative Bank headquarters (now First Bank), Hoggard and Laney high schools, Brogden Hall, Alderman Elementary School and University of North Carolina Wilmington’s Kenan Auditorium.
Boney won his first major design award in 1955 for Little Chapel on the Boardwalk and went on to win numerous awards for a wide variety of public, educational, commercial and preservation projects, according to the obituary. His work was published in such industry publications as Architectural Record, Progressive Architecture, Southern Architect, North Carolina Education and Modern Hospital.
Boney was active in the American Institute of Architects, earning the organization’s F. Carter Williams Gold Medal for career achievement. The obituary listed several civic and service organizations he led, including the Wilmington Parks and Recreation Commission, the Barium Springs Home for Children, Union Theological Seminary, the Family Service Society, the Committee on Performing Arts, the Housing Policy Task Force and the Greater Wilmington Chamber of Commerce. Boney was named Wilmington’s Citizen of the Year in 1979.
In 2014, he was named to the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, which is among the most prestigious awards presented by the governor of North Carolina, bestowed on “outstanding North Carolinians who have a proven record of service to the state,” according to The Long Leaf Pine Society website. The award was presented to family members at last week’s meeting of the Wilmington Downtown Rotary Club, of which he was the longest-serving member.
An avid supporter of historic preservation, Boney was a key player in the establishment of the Wilmington Historic District, the obituary stated, adding that he had served as president of the Historic Wilmington Foundation, chairman of the City Historic Preservation Commission, and was appointed by several governors to the Capitol Preservation Commission and the N.C. Battleship Commission.
The family requested that memorials be made to the First Presbyterian Church Building Fund, The Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, the Historic Wilmington Foundation or the charity of one’s choice.
