Charles Edward Deen, 91, slipped away peacefully at Grace Home in Shreveport, Louisiana, on Wednesday, May 22, 2013, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Visitation will be at Hill Crest Funeral Home in Haughton on Monday, May 27, from 6:00-8:00 p.m. There will be a Vigil service in the chapel at 7:30 p.m. with Father Richard K. Lombard officiating. The Funeral Mass will be held at St. Joseph Catholic Church at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, May 28, with a graveside service at Hill Crest Memorial Park, Father Karl Daigle officiating. Pallbearers will be Nathan Cowart, Carl Underwood, Jonathan Underwood, Aaron Adams, Jonathan Adams, and Brian Broadwell. Honorary pallbearers will be Conrad Neel, Jimmy Adams, and Charles Adams.
Charles was predeceased by his parents; his brother, Clyde Earl Deen; his sisters, Opal Deen Hair, Johnnie Lee Deen, and Iva Mae Deen; and his wife, Edna Marie Deen. He is survived by his sister, Joy Deen Lincoln of Houston; his daughter, Patti Marie Deen Underwood (John) of Shreveport; his stepsons, Robert James Adams, Jr. (Frances) and William John “Jack” Adams (Susan) , of Shreveport, and Charles Randall Adams (Carolyn) of Land O’ Lakes, Florida; his grandchildren, Melissa Marie Stromberg (Erik), Christina Cowart, Amanda Cowart, Nathan Cowart, Carl Underwood, Jonnie Underwood, Jimmy Adams, Tracy Adams Burke, Tammy Adams Hendricks (Butch), Aaron Adams (Jenna), Jonathan Adams, Jacquelyn Adams Bryan, Jennifer Adams Broadwell (Brian), Charles Edward Adams, Alberta Adams Campbell (Jeff), and Danielle Adams Wilson (Brian); 26 great-grandchildren; and two great-great grandchildren.
Known to his friends as C.E., Charlie, or Red, Charles was born in Shreveport to Abney Earl and Addie Mae Durham Deen on January 28, 1922. Due to his mother’s ill health, he was raised with loving care by Sarah Lillie and Charles Edward Brown, a brakeman for KCS, until his foster father’s death from tuberculosis when Charles was five. After his foster mother remarried, his early elementary school years were spent in Ellsinore, Missouri, where Sarah and Samuel Jackson operated a general store. With the advent of the depression and the loss of her husband and the store, Sarah was unable to feed, clothe and educate Charles and returned him to his father, a Shreveport policeman. Charles attended Barrett Street School and Byrd High School and ushered at the Strand Theatre. He lost his father in 1938 and spent two years with his uncle, Albert Deen, and his family on their farm in Appleby, Texas. He graduated from Nacogdoches High School in 1940.
In 1941, Charles entered the National Guard. He participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers of 1941. The army sent him to the University of Kentucky to study engineering, but he left his studies to volunteer for duty oversees. As an M-8 armored car driver in the 89th Calvary Reconnaissance Troop, he led General Patton’s 3rd Army across Germany from the Luxembourg border to the Czechoslovakian border, the first ones the enemy saw.
Returning to Shreveport, Charles began his career at the post office, where he made many friends and met the beautiful Edna Marie Hammond Adams, who became his wife and the love of his life. Together they raised her three sons and their daughter and welcomed all their grandchildren. After retirement, they spent three years in Houston, Texas, near their daughter, where he worked for The Bay Area Crime Stoppers. Charles was member of the American Legion, a Mason, a member of the Bay Area Lion’s Club, the Elks Club, and the Kiwanis Club in Bossier City. His faith, born of an answer to his fervent prayer while suffering through an intracranial aneurysm, was his strength. He was a member of St. Matthias Episcopal Church for many years and, in later years, St. Joseph Catholic Church.
Charles enjoyed hunting, fishing, camping, gardening, beekeeping, bridge, reading, history, and poetry (many of which he committed to memory). He loved observing nature, especially wood ducks.
Charles will be remembered for his warmth, cheerfulness, wisdom, sense of humor, and kind, gentle nature. He will be lovingly remembered and greatly missed by those who were blessed to know him.
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