At the age of 10, Charlotte's family moved to Montgomery, Alabama, where her father owned a plumbing company. Charlotte graduated from Robert E. Lee High School in 1963. She attended Huntingdon College and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Christian Education in 1967. She later obtained her Master's Degree in Social Work from the University of Alabama in 1971. Charlotte worked as a social worker for the Dallas County Pensions and Security Office in Selma.
In 1973, she moved to Mobile, Alabama where she obtained a position of psychiatric social worker at Searcy Hospital in Mount Vernon, Alabama. She worked there for 25 years before retiring. Afterward, she held social worker positions for Epilepsy Foundation in Mobile and also worked with an agency for AIDS patients. Along the way, she also obtained an elementary teacher certificate and taught first and third grade in Mobile and Lacedale, Mississippi.
Charlotte was a lifelong United Methodist and was a member of Fulton Heights UMC now merged with Dauphin Island Parkway UMC. Charlotte was an active member of NAMI and The Turner's Syndrome Society of the United States until such time as she could no longer participate.
Charlotte is survived by her loving husband of 52 years, LaDonn Van Erman, her sister Patricia Dobbins of Juneau, Alaska, her brother, Charles Dobbins of Frankford, Delaware, her sister in laws, her brother in laws and a host of adoring nieces, nephews, great nieces, great nephews and other relatives.
A visitation will be held at Radney Funeral Home, 3155 Dauphin Street, Mobile, Alabama 36606, on November 14, 2026, from 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, followed by the Funeral Service 2026, from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm. A committal service will follow at Pine Crest West Cemetery, 1599 Snow Road, Mobile, Alabama 36695.
In lieu of flowers the family requests that you make a donation in Charlottes name to Embrace Alabama kids.
