Charles V Hinton Jr.

Charlie was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Margaret Cochran Hinton and Charles Vernon Hinton, Sr. He grew up in Charlotte as the third of four children, alongside his sisters Ginger, Elaine and Julie. He attended South Mecklenburg High School, where he played soccer and met Katherine Wicker “Kathy” Hinton, the girl who would become his wife, his best friend, and the center of the family they would build together.

Charlie and Kathy began dating the summer after their sophomore year of high school. He went on to attend North Carolina State University, where he continued playing soccer, and he and Kathy married just before his senior year of college.

What began as a teenage romance became a marriage of 52 years. Charlie adored Kathy and genuinely loved simply being with her. They laughed often, rarely argued, and after more than five decades of marriage, Kathy was still the person Charlie most wanted beside him.

After college, Charlie and Kathy moved to North Augusta, where he began his career at the Savannah River Site as a mechanical engineer. He later transitioned into Human Resources and remained at Savannah River Site until his retirement in 2009.

Charlie was a man of seemingly endless interests and talents. In the eyes of his daughters, there was very little their dad couldn't do—and if he didn't know how to do something, chances were good he would figure it out.

He played and coached soccer, competed in horseback riding and skeet shooting, windsurfed, hunted, fished and snow skied. He loved boating, the outdoors and just about any activity that put him on the water. He took meticulous care of his cars and made sure his daughters knew how to take care of theirs, too. He was a talented artist with a particular love for watercolor. He was fascinated by history, especially World Wars I and II. Later in life, simply because there was always something new to learn, he took up the violin.

But Charlie rarely learned something only for himself. He was always learning, and he was always teaching.

He tutored high school students. He taught friends to water ski, snow ski and shoot skeet. When his daughters were young, he came to an elementary school classroom with artifacts their grandfathers had brought home from World War II so that a roomful of children could experience history in a way they would remember. Whatever Charlie knew, he was eager to share.

He was instrumental in establishing recreational soccer in North Augusta and spent countless hours coaching. Later, he helped coach the high school soccer team on which both of his daughters played.

That involvement was simply part of who Charlie was as a father. He coached his daughters' teams, chaperoned their field trips and showed up for the ordinary and important moments of their lives. He was the person his daughters turned to for advice about nearly everything, because somehow Dad always seemed to know what to do.

Some of their happiest family memories were made on the lake. When his daughters were growing up, weekends often meant piling onto the family boat and heading for the water.

Years later, he became “Gus” to his four grandchildren, a nickname born from a story that was classic Charlie. When Stephanie was expecting her first child, Charlie suggested that if the baby was a boy, she name him Angus after Angus Young of AC/DC. Stephanie declined the baby-name suggestion but told her dad that they could call him Angus instead. Angus soon became Gus, and Gus he remained.

He loved Brucie, Wicker, Birch and Sutton deeply. He took them fishing, brought out his old Lionel steam trains to run with them and, most importantly, met them wherever they were. Whatever they wanted to play, Gus played. Parkinson's disease increasingly limited what he was able to do as they grew older, but it never diminished the love he had for them.

Charlie also had a remarkable sense of humor. Sometimes dry, sometimes goofy and always impeccably timed, he could deliver exactly the right line at exactly the right moment. He never needed to be the loudest person in the room to be one of the funniest.

In many ways, that quietness characterized how Charlie lived his life. He did not need to announce what he believed or call attention to the good he was doing. He simply lived it.

Charlie was a faithful Christian and a member of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church for 45 years. His faith was evident in the way he loved his family and served other people. He volunteered with hospice, giving his time simply to sit with people during some of their most vulnerable hours. He tutored, coached, taught, helped and gave freely of his time and abilities. He was always helping someone, usually without expecting anyone to notice.

Above all, Charlie was the quintessential family man. He was extraordinarily loyal and faithful—to his family, his friends, his faith and the people entrusted to his care. His daughters learned countless practical things from their dad: how to take care of a car, play a sport, learn something new, work hard and figure things out. But the greatest lesson Charlie taught them was one he rarely needed to put into words: how to love other people well without looking for recognition or attention.

Charlie is survived by his beloved wife and best friend of 57 years, Katherine Wicker Hinton; his daughters, Christina Margaret Hinton and Stephanie Hinton Snell (Mills); and his four grandchildren, Brucie, Wicker, Birch and Sutton Snell.

He is also survived by his three sisters, Ginger Mathews (Toney), Elaine Shinn (Mike), and Julie Cochrane (Mike); and Kathy’s brothers, who had been part of Charlie’s life since their high school years, John Wicker (Jeanie), Tom Wicker (Beth), and Jeff Wicker (Sarah); as well as his many beloved nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Margaret Cochran Hinton and Charles Vernon Hinton, Sr.

Charlie’s family is deeply grateful to the team at Amedisys Hospice Care for the compassion and support they provided to Charlie and his family, with particular gratitude to Shavon and Bria. The family is also profoundly thankful for Linda and Janice, who cared for Charlie with tenderness, patience and devotion.

A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday, August 29, 2026, at 10:30 a.m., followed by inurnment in the church columbarium. All are welcome to join the family for a visitation and reception following the service in the parish hall.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites memorial contributions in Charlie’s memory to support research into Parkinson’s disease and Type 1 diabetes through the John Paul II Medical Research Institute or the University of Notre Dame Center for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine.