Charlene Faye Olmsted

Born: June 17, 1947 Died: March 12, 2026

Father: Charles Clifford Tiller Mother: Eva Mae Lucher Tiller

Charlene Tiller was born to Charles Clifford Tiller and Eva Mae Lucher after Charles returned from fighting in World War II. Corporal Tiller was a combat medic and a corporal in General Patton’s Third Army, fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. Once, when he was told that he was a war hero, he replied that the real war heroes were in the back of the ambulance.

Eva Mae Lucher worked during the war as an administrator handling ration coupons. She later enjoyed being a housewife. Eva Mae and Charles were married soon after the end of the War.

Charles Tiller enrolled in the University of Houston, earning a business degree. He became a manager of an A&P grocery store and bought a house under the GI Bill.

In a reasonable time period, they had three children, Charlene, Charles, and Dwight. They lived in the Houston suburb of Bellaire. Charlene made good grades in school and got along well with her brothers and neighbors children.

Sometime around the fourth grade, Charlene wanted to take music lessons. Her parents bought her a piano and a ¾ size violin. She also took tap dance lessons at Patty Swayze’s studio. There she met Patrick Swayze, the actor, but did not know him well. Her natural coordination made her a good dancer, but she was a better musician. She went to Robert E. Lee High.

Charlene quickly learned to play the 3/4 size violin and traded it in on a full-size model. She soon was taking lessons from an instructor from Louisiana, Lucille Boudreaux. Smacking a student on the hand for making an error was acceptable there. In Houston it is not. Years later, she was still unhappy about this.

Lucille Boudreaux set up student violin recitals for students from 5th to 8th grade. Charlene always excelled, never missing a note. She graduated to playing in the Houston All-City Orchestra. She also taught herself to play the piano. When told that this was exceptional, she said that most good musicians do this.

As a high school senior, she was offered three scholarships: LSU, Julliard, and Houston Baptist University. Each required majoring in music. The Tillers lived three blocks from Houston Baptist. She felt comfortable on that campus. The choice was a no-brainer.

Charlene added music therapy to her class load as well as taking education courses. Soon there was a problem – bursitis in her shoulder, caused by daily four hours of violin practice. This was fixed but there was another problem. As Charlene was getting near graduation, she was offered a job with the Houston Symphony – and the salary just wasn’t there. Charlene worked a deal with her main instructor – Ray Fliegal, the Concertmaster of the Houston Symphony.

The deal was to skip a violin course, replacing it with a vocal course. The university was very generous - Charlene was allowed to complete her education major. The student teaching was required – and dismal. A student threw a knife at her and the high school administration did nothing about it. Charlene also didn’t like high school students asking her to go on dates. That’s the penalty for being pretty.

Charlene compensated for this by entering beauty pageants. First Runner Up in the Miss Houston USA Pageant and Fourth Runner Up in the Miss Houston Pageant were her best finishes.

By then, her accounting degree was completed. Law school looked good, with a specialty as an environmental attorney. But a family friend, who was a federal judge, convinced her that attorneys were a dime-a-dozen. There was only one course to finish before getting a degree in Political Science. Earning a living caused her to drop out of school and go to work for a car dealership for experience. Soon she had experience and a very good job at Texaco, working in downtown Houston.

Twenty years at Texaco yielded a pension. Other good jobs followed.

Charlene and I met at a Texaco at an after-work party. We hit it off. Soon we were dating.

There was currently a big-band and jazz revival in Houston. Charlene was a superb dancer and we went dancing a couple of nights per week. She moved closer to my home in southwest Houston.

Charlene brought her two big dogs (Alaskan Malamutes) with her. A local dog breeders club elected her treasurer. She was no longer breeding dogs but still showed her dogs in dog shows and participated in rescue of the big sled dogs.

We became even closer and were married in May, 1988. Charlene moved into my house in Sugar Land. She continued to work as an oil and gas revenue accountant.

My daughter from a previous marriage, Jennifer, continued to live with her mother.

In the 1990’s, the Houston 5K runs proved a welcome hobby, participating with her friends Sandra and Maureen. Eventually foot trouble ended the fun runs, but a new interest took their place. We became part-time historians.

We began tours of historic cities and the ante-bellum homes of the Old South, combining these with family get-togethers. New Orleans was a favorite destination, as was the Gulf Coast. Other trips involved casinos with her brother, Dwight, and trips to car races where I met friends.

After the year 2000, both of us experienced health problems. We continued to work, but slowed down after 2014 and soon retired. We both were hospitalized with cancer of different types.

Charlene was hospitalized in February, 2026.

Charlene passed on March 12, 2026.

Visitation will be held at Earthman Southwest Funeral Home, 12555 South Kirkwood Road in Stafford, on Monday, March 23, 2026, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

The Recitation of the Holy Rosary will take place at Earthman Southwest Funeral Home, 12555 South Kirkwood Road in Stafford on Monday, March 23, 2026, at 7:00 p.m.

A Funeral Mass will be held at St. Theresa Catholic Church, 705 St. Theresa Blvd. in Sugar Land on Tuesday, March 24, 2026, at 11:00 a.m. (St. Theresa's Catholic Church is located off Main St. in the old part of Sugar Land off Hwy 90-Alternate (90-A).

The Rite of Committal will follow, via funeral procession to Forest Park Southwest Cemetery, 9040 FM359 in Richmond.

Following the Rite of Committal, all are invited to greet the family during a reception to be held at the Olmsted's residence at 2:00 p.m.