Claude “Skip” Wharton, AP, was born Oct. 8, 1947, in Mount Clemons, Michigan, son of the late Claude Arthur Wharton Jr. and Lucille Keats Wharton. He was a retired director of business operations for the Applied Research and Development Institute of the South Carolina Research Authority. Skip was a Citadel graduate, Class of 1969, and was a captain in the U.S. Army. He served in Vietnam where he was the recipient of the Silver Star for gallantry in action. His various organizations included membership in The Citadel Alumni Association, life member of American Legion post 0172, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment Veterans of Vietnam and Cambodia Life Member, 14th Armored Cavalry Regiment Association Life Member, and a member of the VFW Member-at-large of South Carolina.
Skip is survived by his wife, Patricia Wharton; son, Jeremy Wharton, of St. Petersburg, Florida; daughter, Mollie Dadin (husband Brian); beloved granddaughters, Aila and Eliza Dadin, of Charleston, South Carolina; and sister, Tootie Owens (husband James) and her family of Richmond, Virginia.
