Charles Cooper “Charlie” Rivers

Charles Cooper “Charlie” Rivers passed from this realm on Sunday, September 3, 2023. His loving family was with him right up until the end, and is celebrating that he now resides pain-free with his heavenly Father.

Charlie was born on February 5, 1935 in Columbia, SC to the late John Hargett Rivers and Christine Cooper Rivers Holmes. He was predeceased by his older brother John Bentley Rivers.

Charlie is survived by his loving wife of 65 years, Helen McArthur Rivers, his sister-in-law Mary Brabham Rivers, his four children Ben Rivers (Kathy), Julie Wagner (Ken), Matt Rivers (Lisa), and Mandy Crain (Ronnie). His children filled his life with grandchildren: Monica Brucks (Adam), Ashley Rivers, Charles Wagner (Madison), Jessie Gunter (Zeke), Katie Coleman (Jordan), Aiman Al-Zahrani, Kristen Holberton (Eric), Preston Rivers, Hailey Chapman, Andrew Crain, Rivers Chapman, Lila Crain, Sarah Paige Chapman, and Cooper Crain. As if this wasn’t already enough for one man in one lifetime, he was also blessed with 13 great grandchildren and numerous official and unofficial nieces and nephews.

Charlie leaves not just a family who loved him, but friends, coworkers, and uncountable others whose lives he touched. He served in the US Army during the Berlin Crisis, and went on to work in insurance and real estate. The bulk of his career was spent serving with the Veterans Administration as the head of the VA Home Loan Program for South Carolina. The relationships he built across the banking, real estate appraisal, construction and real estate sales industries ran deep and broad. If there was anything he could do to assist a Veteran needing housing, Charlie could be counted on to do it.

After the Lord and his family, Charlie’s greatest love was his church. He was a cornerstone of Saint Andrews Baptist Church, where he was an active member since 1963. He and Helen both served the Lord, their church, and the community for over 60 years. There are dozens of married couples who established their homes on a foundation established in the Young Married class they led. He responded to Jesus’ call to serve the “least of these” by participating in prison ministries for years, helping to show men who thought they had nothing left that they were loved and that their lives had meaning and value. Charlie served the church as a Deacon, a Trustee, worked with boys and young men through the Royal Ambassador program, assisted with a variety of mission projects, and was the chairman of the Give Of Your Best reunion and tithing day for decades.

Charlie’s family went beyond blood and included friends that he loved deeply and held close. Annual vacations included “unofficial” family, and provided his children with an example of how to build and maintain strong relationships. He also looked for ways to help others, even if he didn’t know them. The families who received food and gifts for Christmas, the hitchhikers who found themselves eating Sunday dinner off the fine china in his home, the freed prisoners who received the assistance needed to find honest work, all had one thing in common: they crossed paths with Charlie Rivers.

Charlie’s legacy is about more than accomplishments, jobs, and even family. He will always be remembered as a man who worked hard all his life, gave of himself wherever there was a need, truly enjoyed living his life, and loved and served the Lord. Charlie was a good husband, a good father, a good friend, and a good man. He was, truly, a good and faithful servant.

A memorial service for Charlie is scheduled for 11:00 am on Friday, September 8, 2023 at St. Andrews Baptist Church in Columbia, SC. Visitation will immediately follow the service in the atrium of the church. Interment will be a private family event at Fort Jackson National Cemetery with full Military Honors.

Memorial may be made to St. Andrews Baptist Church, 230 Bush River Rd, Columbia, SC 29210.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.dunbarfunerals.com for the Rivers family.