Online Memorial Tribute

Charles was a one of kind person that the Lord sent from above to do a special work. He loved Jesus, his family and his church. 

Charles was a saved and sanctified young man, born in the Grand Ole Church of God in Christ.  His 4th generation pentecostal roots date back to the early days of the COGIC through his maternal great-grandmother, Missionary Joanna Sanders, Assistant State Supervisor for Northern Mississippi. It was this legacy passed down through the years and taught to him by his parents that kept Charles on the "straight and narrow".  Because of his upbringing, Charles was able to "flee youthful lusts" as written in II Timothy 2:22 and maintaining a life of virginity as the Bible teaches. One of his favorite bible verses was Jude:24,25 which says,

" Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen."

He truly believed that the Bible was infallible and if it is obeyed, blessing and goodness would follow.  Charles believed in the power of prayer.  As a child, he witnessed the results of it and knew that prayer was absolutely necessary to make it in this life.

Charles was a person that was dedicated to his duties as an Sunday school Superintendent, an air traffic controller, a drummer, a tenor, and most recently a captain in the U.S. Army. He firmly believed in doing his best at all times.  As a child, Charles, along with his sisters, was instructed by his mother " Be the task great or small, do it well or not at all."  His father instilled in him discipline, courage under fire and "to endure hardness as a good soldier" (II Tim 2:3).

Charles excelled in EVERYTHING he put his mind and hands to.  As a child, he begain reading at the age of 3 years old. His teachers often told his parents that Charles was "ahead" of the other students and it was "hard to keep him busy".  He entered spelling bee competitions, participated in science fairs and a host of other hobbies. He could think of various things and build it to his satisfaction.  He was the salutatorian when he graduated from Josphine Carson Locke Grammar school and later completed his education at Lane Technical High School in Chicago, Illinois. There he also obtain honors, including Honors Society and Who's who, and City Corp Commander of ARMY JROTC for Chicago Public Schools. After high school, Charles attended Chicago State University and earned a B.S. degree in Computer Science. With this degree and at the advice of his parents, Charles pursued a career in Air Traffic Control and became one of the best controllers in the Chicago Center located in Aurora, Illinois.

Shortly before graduation from CSU, he was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army. He served faithfully as a reservist and earned a promotion from 2nd Lieutenant to Captain. During that time, he wrote and improved service manual policies, and imparted valuable wisdom (learned from his father Charles Sr.) to those in his command. Shortly after his promotion to Captain, Charles was deployed in 2003 to serve in the Operation Iraqi Freedom War.

During his lifetime, Charles has always maintained a commanding presence among his peers and people in general.  At his job he was greeted as Sir Charles, at church he was Superintendent, everywhere it was either Charles or " C.J.".  He always had a kind word to say to everyone.  He was blessed to earn a sizable salary and he didn't mind sharing/giving to others. At his church, he would present riddles with his infamous phrase " Riddle me this!"  and would have monetary awards attached to them to inspire his students to learn the bible.  As a drummer and tenor, he was very demostrative. He could make some serious faces, but you could only laugh and enjoy him because he loved what he did. 

As a Captain serving in Iraq, letters from his commanders stated that Charles had developed such a relationship with the Iraqi police and nation that international convoys, military officials and others were able to transport safely through Iraq free of incident and injury. His superiors stated that Charles went beyond the call of duty in managing the transportation process and that he did not lose any soldiers even while working in " unfriendly territories".  It was also noted that based on several recommendations from his superiors, because of his valiant service and contributions to the war, that Charles should be promoted to the rank of Major.

As of July 8, 2007, Our family has been notified that Charles has been promoted to the rank of Major (post hum.).

Charles was a son and a brother that deserves to be remembered, honored and recognized for his achievements. He was definitely a "one of kind" individual, loyal and trustworthy. We thank God for blessing him to be a part of the Garrett family and will never forget him.