In addition to his family, Charles loved his church. He belonged to South Haven Baptist Church in Belton, Missouri and was ordained as a deacon on March 18, 2007. He also participated in the music department. He was a member of the choir and sang for a while in a gospel quarter with three other gentlemen in the church. He was also gifted with the ability to play most low brass instruments and used that skill in high school marching and concert bands.
Charles learned to bowl as a young boy from his grandma. He continued bowling alongside his father as he got older and then assisted in coaching Ian to continue the four-generation pastime.
Charles also loved to play golf and as his mobility began to limit him, he and Norma June would rent a cart and play the course, making up the rules as they went.
He enjoyed watching movies and he had the ability to remember many quotes. He and Ian enjoyed challenging each other to “name the movie” given a specific quote. Charles also found a movie quote for most life situations.
He followed in his father’s footsteps in the love of the game of football and specifically the Kansas City Chiefs. The family tradition was to have a chili dog meal for each home opener while wearing the proper Chiefs attire. He kept his rally cap handy in case the team needed a scoring boost. He passed that love to Ian.
Another love was photography, and most family members have pictures that he took and framed as special gifts. His favorite place to shoot pictures was Powell Gardens, especially on the butterfly weekend.
Charles’s career path involved working in the IT realm. His specialty involved companies who used and stored data on mainframe computers complete with tapes which had to be placed on the reels at the appropriate times in the correct order and then carted to be stored in another room. His last job was working with the Kansas City Police Department.
Preceding him in death are his parents, Randy and Nancy; his sister, Anna Giguere; and his father-in-law, Norman Snead. Left to mourn his passing are his wife, Norma June; his sister, Beth Fleming; his son Ian {Rhianne Beattie), granddaughter, Lillian; his mother-in-law, Lela Snead; sisters-in-law, Rhonda Palmer (Kirk), Tammy McCulloch (Dave) and nieces and nephews.
Services will be held at South Haven Baptist Church in Belton, Missouri on September 16 at 11:00 am with family visitation at 10:00 am. Interment will be at Miriam Cemetery in Bethany, Missouri with graveside services at 3:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be given to the American Diabetes Association.
