Charles E. English

Charles English was born on September 11, 1951 in Raleigh, NC. He was the third son of four boys. His parents were Monroe and Audrey English. Charles grew up on Manley Street with his brothers, Monroe, Paul and Dwight. In 1969, Charles graduated from Ligon High School. He played football and basketball. Charles graduated from UNC in Winston Salem in 1973 with a Business Degree.

Charles was married to Sylvia DeShazer and from that union, they had two sons, Armiya Muhammed and Christopher English. In 1986, Charles relocated to Cincinnati, OH and was befriended by CJ and Linda Parrish who were members of St. Paul A.M.E. Church. Charles was invited to visit St. Paul and it was there he met Cynthia Barnes. CJ Parrish introduced Charles to Cynthia and they were married on October 17, 1992. From this union, Charles and Cynthia had two more sons, Dwight Hill and Charles Jr. Charles became a member of St. Paul Church and served as a Trustee, President of Harvest Food Pantry. For a short period of time, he drove the church van and ONCE he sang in the Men’s Day Choir.

In 1995, Charles decided to become a licensed Barber — attended Barber School and after receiving his license, cut hair at Barnes Barbershop on Woodburn Avenue. Later, he became Barber Instructor at Cincinnati School of Barbering. In 2012, he fulfilled his dream of opening his own Barbershop. He named it “The Barbershop”. It was located in St. Bernard on Vine Street. He cut hair there until his health declined. Additionally, he worked at CVG for Standard Parking where he enjoyed working with his coworkers and being involved with its union.

Charles was an avid sports fan and loved football. One of his joys was watching his sons play sports. Charles and one of his best friends, Kenny Davis would go to some games together. Kenny would drive while Charles sat in the passenger seat looking out the window, eating fritos and drinking Mountain Dew. Charles was very proud of all of his sons who attended and graduated from college. Another hobby of Charles was eating. A few of his favorite foods were Cindy’s peach cobbler, Monroe Barnes Jr.’s pecan pie and Prue’s dressing.

Charles loved his church, church family and God. Charles was thankful that after being diagnosed with prostate cancer over 13 years ago, God blessed him to live a wonderful life full of family, friends and love.

Charles leaves to cherish his memory: his wife, Cynthia; brothers, Monroe (Gail), Paul (Patricia) and Dwight (Belinda); sons, Armiya (Nazirah), Christopher (Shirley), Dwight and Charles Jr.; grandchildren, Zakkiyat, Ta’riq, Eesa, Banyaamin, Ayyoub, Saa’lih, Akhira, Sulaiman, Isaiah, Nadia, Amare, Arianna, Ahmina and Taliah; a favorite aunt, Aunt Bett English; brother-in-law, Monroe Barnes (Stacey); special cousin, Mary Sutton; special friends, Kenny Davis, Kendal Coes, Bruce Edmondson and Willie Gottrell; and a host of family and friends.