Rev. Charles Watkins, age 78, passed away on January 27, 2023. Beloved son of the late Arthur and late Bessie Watkins. Loving brother of Roger (Patsy) Watkins and the late Barbara (Clifton) Thompson. Fond uncle of many nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews and 1 great-great-nephew.

Family and friends will gather on Tuesday, February 7, between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. at Williams Funeral Home in Florence.  A celebration of his life will follow at 7:00 p.m. in the funeral home chapel with his close friend, Rev. Michael Novick, officiating.  Entombment will take place on Wednesday, February 8, at Mt. Zion Cemetery in Florence.

Charles, from a very early age, had a love for the circus. He learned to be a performer around the age of 14, working on the high wire and single trapeze, becoming a clown later on. He traveled with some of the best troops and performing families including Ringling Brothers, the Wallenda’s and Nock’s.

He was an elementary school teacher right out of college (UNA) at Powell School in Florence. Then, he wanted more. He worked at Elkins Funeral Home while learning to be a mortician. He then went on to become a physician’s assistant, working in cardiac surgery at UAB before transferring to the University of Chicago-Weiss Hospital.

Fr. Charles was ordained to the Roman Catholic priesthood for the Archdioceses of Chicago in May of 2003. He served as Associate pastor at Our Lady of the Ridge, St. Cletus and served and retired as Pastor of St. Columba and Mother of God Church. He also served as Dean of Vicarate.

In 2002, while still a transitional deacon, Charles reconnected with those circus roots by becoming one of the ministers for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Migrant and Itinerant Workers. That long office name means ministering to people who make a living on the road in various venues of entertainment including circuses, carnivals, and Indy Car racing, mainly when they were in the Chicago area.

Charles was a great story-teller – a gift of growing up without much tv or technology. Many people had the good fortune to listen to his stories from his hospital days and from the operating room. He had a knack for telling stories about the friends he made when he first came to Chicago to work, living along “LSD” in three different apartments during a 30-year career before going to the seminary in 1998.

Rest in peace, CWW. May the angels lead you into paradise, may the martyrs come to welcome you, and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem. May your soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. AMEN.