Charles D. Cleveland

Charles D. Cleveland, age 96, of Birmingham, Alabama passed away on Tuesday, April 16, 2024. Charles Douglas Cleveland was born in Sylacauga, Alabama on October 24, 1927 (named after Charles Lindbergh and Douglas Fairbanks).

Charles is survived by his sons Kenneth Lee Cleveland (Diane) of Birmingham and Joel Mark Cleveland of Birmingham; his daughter Kimberly Cleveland Hartley (Greg) of Irondale; his granddaughter Lucy Cleveland of New York City, NY, his grandsons John Wesley Mewbourne, III (Jessica) of Birmingham, Kevin Hartley (Viktoria) of Irondale, and Eric Hartley of Irondale and his great granddaughter Naomi Skye Mewbourne of Birmingham.

Charles was preceded in death by his wife Ruby Cleveland; his father Cecil Cleveland and his mother Daisy Cleveland; his brother Billy Cleveland.

A visitation for Charles will be held Sunday, April 21, 2024 from 2:00 PM to 2:45 PM at Curtis and Son Funeral Home North Chapel. Following the visitation will be a graveside at 3:00 PM at Evergreen Memorial Cemetery.

As a young boy he became an avid reader, when WWII broke out his classmates looked to him for information and progress on the latest battles and troop movements. When he was 16 he tried to join the Canadian Air Force but the Canadian Government had stopped taking 16 year old U. S. citizens so they declined. He tried to join the US Army when he was 17 but his mother, Daisy Cleveland, said no and would not sign the permission form. Upon graduating Castle Heights Military Academy in Lebanon, Tennessee, he declined an appointment to West Point in order to be a Marine like his cousin, Buttercup. His mother agreed to let him join the Marines and he served from July 1945 until November 1946. He was stationed in Tientsin, China (now Tianjin) where he was assigned to a mobile laundry detail.

Upon returning home, he enrolled in Howard College (now Samford University) in Birmingham, Alabama to major in Journalism. He transferred to the University of Alabama Law School where he obtained a LLB in 1952. On December 25, 1952, he married Ruby Alice Bryant. They had three children, Kenneth Lee, Joel Mark, and Kimberly Cay.

Charlie began his legal career as an associate for Robert Gordon in 1952. He worked to build his law practice, quickly becoming a partner in the firm Gordon, Cleveland, & Gordon with Robert and his son, Bruce. As the firm grew it subsequently became Gordon, Silverman, Loab, Cleveland & Gordon. Charlie was appointed to the Birmingham Water Works Board in the late seventies and served for 14 years. When his eldest son, Lee, graduated from Alabama Law School in 1985, Charlie left his law firm to practice with his son; eventually forming Cleveland & Cleveland, P. C. Charlie practiced law with his son until he retired in 2022 at the age of 94.

Charlie was a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Birmingham. As one of their longest attending members, approximately 70 years, he served at various times as a board member, President, Treasurer, and Trustee. Charlie believed strongly in equal rights and was actively involved in the Civil Rights Movement. He worked to change the form of government in Birmingham from a Commission to the Mayor-Council form we currently have.

Charlie was an avid chess player and a member of the Birmingham Chess Club. In 1968 he won the Alabama State Chess Championship. Also an avid sailor, Charlie owned a sailboat from the early 1960s until the mid 2000s and enjoyed taking anyone interested for a sail around Logan Martin Lake.

Charlie had one case that he argued before the Supreme Court of the United States, which he won. He tried many cases and appeals in the Circuit Courts throughout Alabama, the Alabama Supreme Court in the federal courts in Alabama, in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and in the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Charlie was admired by all who knew him for his keen legal mind and his great sense of humor.