The Story Of Us

THE STORY OF CHARLES

94 and looking for more! These words can frequently be heard from a man that you may know as Charles, Charlie, Daddy, Granddaddy Charles, Ole Granddaddy, or even “The Singing Senator.” His favorite name, however, is “Child of God,” a name he’s proud of and grateful for. Here, at his home church of more than 60 years, he is a friend, choir member, prominent member of the Men of the Church, and more. Our love for Charles and the sharing of his talents runs deep among our congregation.

Born on January 4, 1932, Charles was the 8th of 9 children born to Jim and Lizzie Albertson on Old Chinquapin Road. He came from a close-knit farming family who worked hard, helped their neighbors, and attended church at Bethel Presbyterian every Sunday come rain or shine. That’s just who they were. His love for music began right there in church as he participated with most all the other local children in the children’s choir. 

Growing up in a large family was a blessing to Charles. There was always work to be done when the children got home from school … working in their large garden, taking care of hogs and mules, milking cows. These chores were part of everyday life back then. Dressed in hand-me-down clothes he also found time to play ball, whether it was an official game of the school basketball team, some Sunday afternoon baseball, or a backyard game of football with all the boys around, using a sock full of other socks as a ball. 

Charles attended Beulaville School with his siblings, where almost every one of them drove the school bus one year or another. During school, he’d walk across the road during the day to take guitar lessons from Mrs. Thigpen, a blind guitar teacher. While Little Brown Jug was the first song he mastered, it was far from being the last. Before graduating from high school, he joined his first band with Monroe Smith and his brothers. Charles remembers playing for folks to dance at a house on Highway 50, and afterward a hat was passed around for a collection. The band members shared it, and Charles came home with his first musician’s salary of 44 cents!

After graduating from high school Charles spent a little time working for Stroud Construction in Wallace and then on his 19th birthday he, along with his brother Hallie and a few other locals, joined the US Air Force. He spent 21 days at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas sleeping out on a football field, under a gym and then under tents, because the barracks were full with so many enlisting at that time. He continued training in Georgia and stayed in the Air Force for about a year and a half. He enlisted for four years, but with aging parents and two of his brothers also in service, Charles was allowed to return home and help on the family farm. 

Farming for his dad was appreciated but wasn’t Charles’ idea of the best job to have! A short-term job offer at the Ag Extension office turned into a 30-year career for Charles and served him well until his retirement at age 55. His thoughts turned to state politics after retiring. When a NC House office became vacant, he ran and won. He served there from 1989–1992 and then served in the NC Senate from 1993–2010, representing us for 22 years up in Raleigh. 

Throughout Charles’ life of work, his love for music has always held a prominent place in his heart. He entertained folks from all over as a professional musician with the Charlie Albertson Show for 52 years. Singing at the Grand Ole Opry is dream for many, but became a reality for Charles a few times, once at the Ryman Auditorium and other times at the Opry House. Receiving a standing ovation for his rendition of “Tie a Yellow Ribbon” was a moment he’ll never forget. He recorded several albums in Nashville and did four tours overseas as professional entertainment for the Armed Forces, visiting 26 different countries. Music has led him to so many interesting places he never would have visited otherwise.

1n 1953, Charles’ longtime neighbor, Grace Sholar, became his wife. Their family expanded to include children, Randy and Pam, their spouses, Karen and Mike, and grandchildren Jordan, Amanda, and Karla. He now has six great grandchildren who also keep him young! He and Grace moved from Bethel Presbyterian to Beulaville Presbyterian in their 30s. Here, Charles has been a faithful choir member, Sunday School teacher, deacon, elder, and men’s leader from that time forward. His favorite Bible passage is from Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son. Two of his favorite hymns are “Softly and Tenderly” and “What a Friend we Have in Jesus.” You may notice a common thread woven through each of these: God loves us, and His grace is available to us no matter how far we stray. And if you know Charles, you know he has taken that to heart, because he shows that same kind of love and grace to everyone he knows.

At the age of 96 and living just across Main Street in Beulaville, Faye Quinn Williams is one of our oldest, most local, and most beloved church members. A typical day for her includes morning coffee, a little bird watching, conversations with friends and caregivers, reading her Bible, and learning … after all these years, still learning.

Faye was born on October 15, 1929, the third of six children to Tharon and Isla Quinn of Beulaville. She lived a typical but blessed life in her family home at the corner of Lyman and Quinn Store Roads, surrounded by her immediate family as well as plenty of aunts and uncles and cousins. Faye’s mother said she was the easiest of the six children to raise, primarily because she could be put to bed and would stay there. It's nice to be appreciated for being a good sleeper!

As children, Faye and her siblings and cousins had no shortage of work and play to do each day. Her typical chores at home included gathering and separating the cows each evening, helping with the family garden, gathering eggs, and keeping the kitchen wood box filled for the wood stove they cooked on. She also had the responsibility of clerking at the general store her family ran. When work was done, there was plenty of fun as the children played school, made playhouses with sticks and tobacco twine in the yard, and invented games like “Map” – a pretty high-tech game of hide and seek for the 1930s. Faye and her cousin, Vena, even created a homemade telephone stretching between their two-bedroom windows.

Education was important in the Quinn home. Reading materials were readily available and her father expected all his children to attend post-secondary school. Faye attended Beulaville School from first grade until the beginning of tenth grade when the school burned down. Because her father knew her education would be a little less than ideal in the post-fire situation there, he moved her to Warsaw High School, which was convenient as he was traveling there daily for the family business by that time. She graduated from Warsaw High and then attended Pineland Junior College in Salemburg for a summer session before attending the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, where she graduated with a degree to teach Business Education. Later, after becoming a mother, she attended East Carolina University and earned a master’s degree in Administration.

Faye’s first teaching job was at Beulaville High School where she taught for two years before getting a secretarial job at the newly established DuPont company in Kinston. Her stay at DuPont was short, however, because her husband Richard was drafted and going through training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Faye took and passed the civil service exam and worked at Fort Jackson as well, until Richard went to Germany. With her husband overseas, she returned to Duplin County for a while. She had plans to return to DuPont, but instead was heavily recruited to teach again, and she took a job at Kenansville High School. Schools were consolidated in 1957 so she was moved to James Kenan High School just outside of Warsaw. She remained at James Kenan until 1991 and retired with more than 40 years of total teaching time under her belt.

As her career was moving along beautifully, her personal life was as well. Faye married Richard Williams in 1952 and they welcomed their son, Frederick, into the family in 1959. She began attending church at Beulaville Presbyterian Church in the “old” church building when she and Richard were dating, and she continues to be an active member today. While here, she has served as a Sunday School teacher of both children and adults, a Bible school teacher, a deacon and an elder, circle chair and teacher leader, and moderator of Women of the Church. She has served on various committees and the PEEP board for many years.

While family and church and work have been priorities, Faye has also enjoyed many hobbies through the years. She’s an avid reader, has always enjoyed working in her yard and flowers, directed more than a hundred weddings from the early 1950s up until 2000, and her latest hobby is bird watching from her back window. She enjoys Bible study and some of her favorite passages come from Psalm 91 and Psalm 121. While she has always loved music and traditional hymns from her childhood, her current favorites are some that she learned later in life … “Lord, You Have Come to the Lakeshore,” “I Danced in the Morning,” and “Here I am, Lord.”

Faye is a gracious role model to so many and is the epitome of the word “lady.” She is full of joy and loves people in a big way. She says that she has been blessed with a wonderful childhood family, husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren, as well as cherished friends and church family