Charles Gregory Backus Jr., a retired pressman and Korean War veteran, died of cancer July 3 at his home in Holiday, Fla. He was 75.
Mr. Backus was born in Baltimore, where he was raised on Warren Street in Federal Hill, and was a graduate of Southern High School. He served in combat with the Marine Corps in Korea from 1951 to 1954.
He worked for The Baltimore Sunpapers -- beginning in 1945 at the old Sun Square building -- and for the old Baltimore News-Post before taking a job in 1970 with Alco Gravure in Glen Burnie. He retired from there in 1996.
Since 2001, the former Lansdowne resident had lived in Holiday, where he was a member of the American Legion. He also had been active in its Glen Burnie post, and was a former communicant of St. Mary Star of the Sea Roman Catholic Church in Locust Point.
Plans for a memorial service in Baltimore were incomplete.
Mr. Backus is survived by his wife of 41 years, the former Florence Ruth Schaffner, a former Sun telephone operator; a daughter, Cynthia Marie Backus of Lansdowne; a son, Matthew D. Backus of Brooklyn; two stepsons, Michael X. Harant and Timothy B. Harant, both of Lansdowne; five grandchildren; and a great-grandchild.
