Donald Carlos Long

Obituary

Donald Carlos Long, age 86, died at home, surrounded by family and friends, on May 20, 2022. Mr. Long was born in Bellaire, Ohio, on October 8, 1935, to Carlos and Lolis Long. He graduated from Bellaire High School in 1953. In 1956, he joined the United States Marine Corps as a Private and retired 22 years later as a Chief Warrant Officer 3. Most of Mr. Long’s military career at Camp Lejeune was served with the 2d Topographic Company/Platoon. He spent 4 years on recruiting duty in Columbus, Ohio, before serving in Vietnam from 1969 to 1970.

After retiring from the Marine Corps, Mr. Long graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education. He worked as a teacher at Morton Elementary School where he taught the fourth and fifth grades for 12 years. He then moved to Jacksonville High School where he taught English for 3 years before returning to elementary school, teaching fifth grade at Swansboro Elementary School, until he retired in 1997.

Mr. Long was active in the Onslow County soccer program where he coached Division 2 and 3 for the Piney Green United Soccer Club. He was the first soccer coach at White Oak High School with the boy’s soccer team. He later took his coaching skills to Jacksonville High School where he was the assistant coach for the boy’s soccer team and the first coach of the girl’s soccer team.

Mr. Long is survived by his wife, Patricia, his children, Steve and Denise, and his grandchildren, David, Micah, and Grace.

A memorial service will be held at Enon Baptist Church on May 31, 2022. The visitation is at 8 a.m., the service is at 9 a.m., and the burial will be at 10 a.m. at the Coastal Carolina State Veterans Cemetery. 

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