Charles DuRant

Reverend Charles Blanding DuRant, 70, of Morehead City, died at his home on Sunday, January 10, 2016.

The family and church will conduct a memorial service at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Morehead City on Thursday, January 14 at 11:00 with Rev. Thomas D. Bowers and The Rev. Deacon John J. Gaskill, Jr. officiating. Burial will be on Friday, January 15, at 11:30 at the Episcopal Cemetery in Scotland Neck, NC with The Rev. Deacon John J.  Gaskill, Jr. officiating.

The son of the late Richard Logan DuRant and Edythe Eloise Fann, he was born in Sumter, South Carolina on March 16, 1945.   He graduated from Mars Hill College with a degree in music and from the Southern Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, with a Masters in Church Music.   In his long career he was the music director at the First Baptist Church in New Bern, First Baptist in Gastonia, Covenant Baptist in Gastonia, Hayes Barton Baptist in Raleigh, Trinity Methodist in Raleigh, and St. Francis by the Sea Episcopal in Salter Path.  He also taught Music Appreciation at Sacred Heart College and Craven Community College, and for a time was a realtor with Pine Knoll Shores Realty.  Especially noted for his rich bass voice, he shared his gift of music at countless weddings, baptisms, and funerals, and gave voice lessons to more students than he could count.

He is survived by his daughter Allyson DuRant Strickland and husband Brett of Dothan, Alabama; his daughter Andrea DuRant Maness of Burlington, NC, six grandchildren; a sister Patricia Rodgers of Chapin, SC; and his friend David Gammon of the home.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brother Richard Augustus DuRant and his sister Delores Edith DuRant.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church.