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After 80 years combined service as Salvation Army officers, Lt. Colonels Charles and April Strickland have entered active retirement.
Born in New Bern, North Carolina, Charles is a first generation Salvationist. April was born in Clarksburg, West Virginia and is a second generation Salvationist. Her family moved to Tucson, Ariz. when she was eight years old.
Charles served in the US Air Force from 1958-1962 and while stationed in Tucson he met April; they married in 1961. The Stricklands attended training college in San Francisco with the Proclaimers of the Faith Session and were commissioned in 1965.
Charles received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Cal State University, Long Beach, Calif. in 1977, and April received a R.N. Degree from Cypress College, Calif. in 1979.
Their career has included corps appointments in the Intermountain, Hawaiian and Pacific Islands, and Southern California divisions; Adult Rehabilitation Center (formerly Men’s Social Service Center) appointments in California and Arizona; and a brief appointment to the training college in San Francisco.
The Stricklands served as divisional youth leaders for the So. Calif. Division and as divisional finance secretary and League of Mercy secretary at Southwest DHQ. From 1984-1986 Charles served at territorial headquarters as general secretary, Men’s Social Service Division. In 1995, the Stricklands were appointed leaders of the new Del Oro Division, where they served for almost seven years.
Three international appointments enriched their Army experience: from 1979-1983 they served at the Lai King Children’s Home in Hong Kong, from 1991-1993 they were consultants for Family Thrift Stores at THQ in Sydney, Australia, and from 2002-2004 they served in Bandung, Indonesia as chief secretary and territorial secretary for women’s ministries.
They are the parents of three children, Craig, Linnea-Lynne and Derek, and they have three grandchildren.
A “Serendipity” celebration was held at the Anaheim, Calif. ARC, with Colonel Olin Hogan as Master of Ceremonies and Commissioner Joe Noland presenting the retirement certificates.
In retirement they continue to serve God and the Army as administrator and director of special services at the Phoenix ARC.
The Stricklands do not yet have a retirement home, but you can find them at the Phoenix ARC, P.O. Box 20547, Phoenix, AZ 85036-0547.