The eldest of seven children, he was born on May 23, 1927. He was premature and only weighed 4 ½ pounds. His maternal grandmother, Addie Nantz-Moore claimed that this baby would not die and she helped nurse him into a healthy little boy.
He worked with his Dad in the lumber business as a boy. Using a cross-cut saw to fell the trees. One day they had to fell 100 trees and they did. They were share croppers too. Clearing, tilling, planting and harvesting the crop was essential to making a living. When Charles was only 8 or 9, his Dad became ill and Charles had to help his mother put in the crop. The mule team and plow proved difficult, but he could only put his small hands under the handle and pull down hard. On his 17th birthday, Charles signed up to join the U. S. Navy in World War II. He caught a troop train out of Des Arc and headed to Little Rock and then on to San Diego in a suit his mother made for him by hand.
Charles is preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Jo Lanell Rogers Harvey; son, Larry Gilbert Harvey; son, Charles Dwayne Harvey and daughter, Cherryl Ann Harvey.
Left to cherish his memory are his daughter, Marilyn Hardisty and son-in-law, Lance; grandchildren Amy Melissa Owen, Angela Michelle Sbano, Larry Keith Harvey, David Neal Billings III, Shane Christopher Harvey and Aaron Harvey; nineteen great- grandchildren and one great great-grandchild along with his sisters, Jeane Harvey Martz and Shirley Harvey Taylor.
A visitation service will be held from 5:00 – 7:00 pm on Wednesday, October 21, 2020 in the chapel at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home. Funeral Services will be held at 2:00 p.m. at that funeral home. Burial will immediately follow the service with U. S. Navy rendering Military Honors.