Charlotte Ann Bernard

Charlotte Ann Davis was born to Lem and Luelva on September 3, 1945, in Beaumont, Texas. Because her birthday fell on Labor Day that year, she always celebrated both September 3rd and Labor Day, regardless of the date. If her birthday fell on Tuesday, she felt it only right to celebrate the entire week from Tuesday the 3rd to Monday September 9th. She was the third of four siblings.

Charlotte was a member of St. James Methodist Church and regularly attended Sunday School and the Methodist Youth Fellowship. She sang in the Junior Choir. She also loved her ballet and piano lessons and radio music.

Although the family lived only a stone’s throw from Hebert High School, Charlotte and her older siblings graduated from Charlton-Pollard high School, where she was valedictorian of her graduating class. She also attended Wiley College in Marshall, Texas.

Charlotte had one child, Angela "Angie". Angie was adopted and lovingly raised by Charlotte's sister and brother-in-law, Mary Minter and Raymond Minter, Jr. Charlotte remained involved in Angie's life and was always available if needed. After Angie's birth and brief stays in Austin and Houston, Charlotte moved to Los Angeles, California where she met and married Joseph Preston Bernard, who was also from Beaumont, Texas but whom she had not met until her move to LA. She and Preston, as she called him, were married for 42 years. During this time, she began working for AT&T as a telephone operator and later became a supervisor. She was very proud of the team and the work she did at AT&T, including much of the telecommunications for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Charlotte loved traveling and attending concerts, she liked seeing the O’Jays, the Temptations and other shows with Preston in Las Vegas. She especially enjoyed traveling as an "AT&T Goodwill Santa" annually delivering Christmas presents to children abroad (each year in a different foreign country). She would entertain her Mother (Honey), family and friends with stories, gifts and pictures from her trips to China, Japan, Russia, Spain, France, Italy, Brazil and several other places. She also enjoyed a good friendly, but competitive game of whist, hearts, or spades with siblings or good friends which would really evoke her competitive nature.

Most recently, Charlotte spent her time shopping, going out to eat and spending time with family and her beloved dog, "Baby". She liked watching veterinarian shows on the Animal Planet Channel, which she called "going to vet school".

Charlotte lived with her daughter Angie, her son-in-law, James and grandson, Isom, in Orange, Texas for several years. After Preston died, in January 2013, Charlotte moved to Pflugerville TX to be closer to her sister, Mary. In 2019, Angie and her adopted brother, Eric Minter, convinced Charlotte and Mary to move closer to Houston, TX so that they would be near family and so (Angie and Eric) could help oversee provision of their healthcare services. In September 2022, Charlotte and Mary moved to Montgomery Texas. In January 2023, Charlotte was diagnosed with Leukemia. Charlotte kept a positive attitude throughout her treatments and was always making her caregivers laugh and smile while "giving that cancer hell". On December 27, 2023, Charlotte passed away surrounded by family and friends, she was at peace and is not hurting anymore.

Charlotte was preceded in death by her parents, Lem and Luelva; her husband, Preston; and an adopted sister, Sheila Davis Clemmons. She leaves to mourn her death, her beloved family including a daughter Angela (James) Colbert, grandson, Isom Colbert, two brothers, Lem, Jr. (Barbara, deceased) and John (Terri); one sister Mary Davis Minter, (Raymond, deceased); Nephews: Eric (MeLisa) Minter; Brian (Stephaney) Davis; Lionel "Ray" (Darlene) Ephriam; Nieces: Johnita (Bill) Jones; Cheryl (Darryl) Fitzgerald; and a host of other relatives and friends.