Maureen L Charles

Maureen L Charles passed away on August 7th, 2023 in Dunedin, Florida following an extended respiratory illness. Born in a coastal town in Chile, Maureen was the second daughter of 4 children. She attended the Universidad de Chile where she studied law. She married Guillermo Brian Charles in Santiago. She emigrated to the US with her husband and young children to avoid the Allende regime and pursue a better life. First settling in Nashville, Tennessee, she learned English alongside her oldest daughter while watching Sesame Street. There she met her lifelong friends the Dillehays -Sonja, also a Chilean and Jerry, El Gringo.

Maureen was a lifelong learner. She completed a certificate through a hospital based training program. When her family relocated to the Brandon area, she continued her studies commuting to Clearwater daily and graduated in radiography from Morton Plant Hospital. She worked at numerous hospitals in the region, always sharing her caring and compassion. She was selected to be one of the first in her field to learn new diagnostic devices and shared her skills with numerous students throughout her career. In her final months, Maureen was participating in a research study at USF examining the impact of learning music to prevent cognitive decline. She was the inspiration for her two children to pursue careers in healthcare.

She and her family were longtime members of Holy Innocents Episcopal Church in Valrico, Florida. Despite limited time due to a heavy work and call schedule, she was active in the Cursillo movement and supported her children’s development in the church.

After choosing to raise her children in Brandon, a decision she never regretted, Maureen relocated to Brooksville where she married her second husband, James Griffin. Out in the countryside, she embraced farm living, a love of multiple birds and dogs, wild animals and nature. Her kindness and hospitality extended to all of the visitors to “The Farm”. Many of Jim and Maureen’s friends and her children’s friends took advantage to get away from the city to be out in nature. While continuing to work in Spring Hill, she loved the solitude and tranquility of the country roads. She delighted in afternoon rains and the sound it made on the tin roof of her home. She loved watching the peacocks and roosters nest in the trees at dusk. As she began having grandchildren, she cherished having them visit and introducing them to various animals and farm life. She retired in 2009 to care for Jim until his death.

Despite a lengthy battle with respiratory disease, she loved to spend time with her children, grandchildren, siblings, and friends. She took great joy in reminiscing about her childhood in Chile, her daily phone calls with her sisters, and adventures with her ‘Yayas’. Her granddaughters will fondly remember weekends at “Camp Meme” having ice cream for dinner, playing with make-up and costume jewelry, and creating fashion shows. She was always on the lookout for a bargain for the right pair of shoes. She took pleasure in watching her grandchildren perform as students, musicians, dancers, and athletes.

She is preceded in death by her parents Lily and John and her husband Jim. She is survived by her siblings and their spouses: Vivian and Allan Rees, Joan and Hector Vera, and John and Christine LIscombe; her children and spouses Marianne and Shaun Elliott and Robert and Jaychele Charles; and her seven grandchildren: Sabra, Aimee, Teagan, Emery, Tucker, Annabelle, and Merritt.

In lieu of flowers, she wished that donations be made in her honor to the SPCA, the Humane Society of Tampa Bay or AccentCare Hospice. She will be interred at the Florida National Cemetery alongside Jim where a memorial service will take place at a future date.