BY MILES LAYTON
During the past several days since Charlie Creighton’s passing, tributes have poured forth testifying to the man he was.
UPDATED FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS
A celebration of Charlie’s life is scheduled for 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 21 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 100 West Church Street, Edenton. The service will be live-streamed to the St. Paul’s Facebook page. Additional seating will be available in St. Paul’s Parish Hall, in the Edenton Baptist Church Fellowship Hall and in St. Ann Catholic Church, for anyone wishing to view the live-stream during the service. Better get there early because St. Paul’s, certainly the other churches, because the pews are sure to be filled with people who remember Charlie.
Click here to see the funeral bulletin
Per the bulletin, the ushers are Horace Beasley, Hood Ellis, Marshall Ellis, Scotty Harrell, Warner Perry and Roland Vaughan. Ellis will give the first reading of Scripture, with Vaughan giving the second reading and Perry will lead the prayers for the people. There will be remembrances from Britt Creighton Ratcliff, Eva Chandler Bergeron, Eleanor Clark Burcham, Ann Porterfield Creighton and Andrew Omer Bergeron, Jr. The Homily will be by Reverend Melody Perdue of St. Paul’s.
Click here to watch the funeral online
An entrepreneur and philanthropist, Charlie, 81, joined God’s heaven on May 15 after a brief illness. For the past several days, people have shared fond memories of Charlie.
Councilman Sambo Dixon knew Charlie very well, worked with him closely over the years on a number of projects, including the state’s acquisition of Hayes Farm.
“When we started the Hayes, Charlie’s support and generosity to that project and his encouraging phone calls meant so much to the project and me personally. He made a substantial donation to Hayes toward the purchase of the furniture and funding for the restoration of the carriage house, which was the building that was in most danger of collapsing at Hayes.”
Dixon recalled Charlie as an extremely generous person.
“Charlie was the most generous person I have ever known. His gifts to the community were legendary. He was also quick to encourage those in our community who were doing good. He would usually make a contribution, follow up and tell you how proud he was of how you were doing to make Edenton better. There’s no question that he made Edenton a better place to live.”
Laura Ullom shared a personal story of my experience with Charlie.
“When I was a senior at John A. Holmes High School, I coordinated a project centered around helping to alleviate the budget cuts in the Exceptional Children’s Program for Edenton Chowan Schools. I partnered with Charlie Creighton and Colony Tire to launch ‘“‘Exceptional Tires for Exceptional Children‘. This project included Michelin Tires where $5.00 would be donated to the fund for every tire sold. Through this, Charlie mentored me and coached me through having business meetings with executives as a shy 17 year old girl. Together, we were able to raise $3,000 that went directly to ECPS Exceptional Children’s Department. I am forever grateful for the time that Charlie took with me and the chance he took.”
Down East Preservation posted a short video and a few kind words to social media, “What is the use of living, if it be not to strive for noble causes and to make this muddled world a better place for those who will live in it after we are gone?” ~Winston Churchill
…and that he did.
Charlie Creighton was a dear friend, a constant supporter, and a devoted mentor. He believed in our vision and his words of wisdom will remain embedded in our company forever.
Well done, good and faithful servant. ~Matthew 25:21
Waterman’s Brian Roberts posted to social media, Charlie Creighton was a friend to so many people and I am proud to have been one to call him such. As most of you know, he had a devil-may-care attitude that he projected with a constant twinkle in his eye, yet he was steadfastly as humble as any man could be.
One of the greatest and best things to ever happen to our community was Charlie and Colony Tire. That is a golden fact. I personally shared a certain bond with him. It may be a surprise to many of you to know that early in Charlie’s life he worked on the railroad as a fireman, a job that was similar to my own father’s, who was a brakeman on the railroad for 45 years. Charlie met my dad once, and they swapped a few stories. He always asked m,e as the years went by, how my dad was doing. The night my father passed away, I felt compelled to call Charlie and tell him. He was very consoling and he told me that railroad brakemen move on to keep heaven on the right tracks. It was at once a curious but at the same time, a comforting thought. Charlie enjoyed Waterman’s Grill and we enjoyed having him, his family and all of his many friends and business associates in our midst. We will sorely miss him and his devil-may-care smile, and that twinkle in his eye. This snippet from the Rudyard Kipling poem, IF, I think best fits the essence of the great Charles Alfred Creighton.
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings—nor lose the common touch If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run—
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son.
Charlie was indeed a man’s man.
God Bless you Charlie, and may God bless and comfort your family.
I’m writing this part of the story last – our family’s tribute to Charlie. He and Susan were our daughter’s sponsors for her confirmation at St. Paul’s. Charlie was a great supporter of local journalism, including the Albemarle Observer.
But here’s the big story. A few years ago, our family’s car gave out – we bought a lemon. Though our car was under warranty, it didn’t matter to the dealer thus we didn’t have a vehicle, nor were we able to afford a new vehicle any time soon. To say we were doomed was an understatement. I was biking or hiking to the town’s only grocery store to bring home food each night for our family’s dinner.
Former Town Councilman Roger Coleman knew of our dilemma and made a call to Charlie. Understanding our plight, Charlie gave us the keys to a Colony Tire vehicle – so I want to say thanks, and offer a prayer on his behalf that I hope God hears.
This was the kind of person Charlie was. Praise be to God, Charlie, thanks for what you’ve done for Edenton, Chowan County and Northeast NC.