Dr. Charles Milton Wender Sr.

Charles Milton Wender, beloved husband, father, grandfather, physician, and pastor, passed away peacefully on March 31, 2026, at The Waters of Maryville in Knoxville, Tennessee. He was 90 years old.

Born on October 18, 1935, in LaFollette, Tennessee, it was there that Charles first found his footing in the world, and it was also there where he met the love of his life, a girl named Hollins, who would become his wife, his partner, and his greatest companion for the next 67 years.

Charles built a life defined by a singular devotion, to the hearts of others. That calling expressed itself first in medicine. He joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville, where he practiced cardiology for decades with a special focus on congenital heart disease, dedicating his career to the youngest and most vulnerable patients.

But Charles always understood that healing runs deeper than medicine. A man of profound and lifelong Christian faith, he answered a second calling upon retirement, serving as pastor of Zion Methodist Church in Knoxville for fifteen years. Those who knew him saw no contradiction between the cardiologist and the pastor, both were simply Charles, a man who spent his entire life tending to the human heart.

He is survived by his beloved wife Hollins; his sons Milt (Rita), Reid (Kim), Tim (Lorinda), and Michael (Beth); his grandchildren Ashley, Pierce, Kaley, Chase, Caleb, Morgan, Michaela, Evan, Ella, Paige, and Lydia; and several great-grandchildren who were the joy of his later years.

A visitation and memorial service will be held on Thursday, April 9th from 5-7 PM with a memorial service at 7 PM at Mt. Olive Baptist Church, 2500 Maryville Pike, Knoxville, Tennessee. Dr. Kirby Ownby officiating.

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children." — Proverbs 13:22