Charles Yale Molyneaux Jr., 84, of Charleston, S.C., formerly of Bardstown, died Monday, Feb. 2, 2026.
He was born May 19, 1941, in Bardstown and was a Class of 1959 Bardstown High School graduate. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from the University of Kentucky in May 1964. He earned a Master of Science degree in Microcomputer Applications in Management from Nova University, Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
He was a registered professional civil engineer in Kentucky and Louisiana. He enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserve in 1966 and was later transferred to the Environmental Sciences Services Administration’s Commissioned Officer Corps in June 1966, the predecessor of the NOAA Commissioned Officer Corps. NOAA is one of the eight uniformed services in the United States.
He was a 28-year veteran of the the NOAA Corps. He served aboard four NOAA research ships. He traveled the world as Chief of the Satellite Geodetic Survey Field team. He served as assistant to the director of the NOAA Pacific Marine Center in Seattle. He served as liaison to the U.S. Naval Oceanographic Office in Bay St. Louis, La. He served as associate director of the Atlantic Oceanographic and Meteorological Laboratory in Miami and as executive officer of the Office of Oceanography and Marine Assessment in Rockville, Md.
In 1990, he assumed command of NOAA Ship Malcolm Baldridge (formerly NOAA Ship Researcher, R-103) in a public change of command ceremony on Sept. 5, 1990, at the NOAA Southeast Marine Support Facility in Miami. The ship conducted oceanographic research in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and Caribbean Sea. In 1990, it was the largest of 18 active ships in the NOAA fleet.
He retired from the NOAA Corps in September 1994. He spent the next 23 years living on his sailboats sailing the East Coast and Caribbean Sea. He settled in Charleston, S.C., where he lived with his wife, Joni, until his death.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Grace Molyneaux; two sisters, Sara Kathryn Molyneaux and Betty Elizabeth Carothers; and one brother, Richard Lee Molyneaux.
He is survived by his wife, Joan Marie Murray Molyneaux; one sister, Julia Molyneaux Wilson (Guthrie); seven nieces and nephews; and six great-nieces and great-nephews.
Burial will be in May 2026, in the Bardstown Cemetery.
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