Charles I. Black was born April 24, 1931 in Jackson, Mississippi, to Lena (Phillips) and William Black. Charles passed away and into the presence of Jesus, his Lord and Savior on December 13, 2013 after a valiant fight with a late onset of Muscular Dystrophy. Charles Black’s life was one of many struggles that only made him stronger. He was born into very humble beginnings and yet never allowed the challenges he faced to hold him back from pursuing the dreams God placed in his heart. He truly pulled himself up by the bootstraps and even with little in resources, utilized the talents and smarts that God gave him to accomplish so much. After high school, Charles who had such an intellectual curiosity for the emerging broadcast technology ventured off to the Coyne Radio and TV school in Chicago. Later he worked in Indianapolis, Indiana for a short-time before joining the U.S. Air Force. He served as radar technician with his flight crew at the rank of Staff Sergeant. It was while in the Air Force that others who were impressed with Charles’ intelligence and ingenuity, encouraged him to go to college in order to have the tools to maximize his smarts in a career going forward. Charles majored in Physics at Mississippi College, serving as the President of the Physics Club and graduating with a B.S. in Physics with the highest honors in 1957, accomplishing four years in only a two and a half years’ time. It was while at Mississippi College that Charles met the love of his life, Elizabeth Ann Hall, whom he called his “Angel”. They married June 9, 1957 right after his graduation and he began his career shortly thereafter at Convair Aircraft in Fort Worth, Texas. Later he was recruited to work in a distinguished position for Western Electric at Bell Labs in Whippany, New Jersey from 1959 to 1962. Then, he was recruited to Texas Instruments in 1962 and relocated to Dallas, Texas as they settled into what would be their home in Farmers Branch for the next twenty-three years where Charles & Ann raised their three children later moving to Plano, Texas where he had resided for the last twenty-eight years. Charles worked at Texas Instruments from 1962 to 1993. During those thirty plus years he was recognized as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff and served tirelessly in providing leadership for a division that contributed to highly confidential projects for the U.S. Department of Defense. He had a long history of involvement in numerous activities in acoustics, seismics and radar. He authored and co-authored a number of state of the art digital signal processing articles published and holds a number of unique patents. It was important to Charles to continue to serve in this capacity for his country. Charles was such a humble, hardworking and brilliant man. He was an incredible manager to many and he always put those working for him first, whether it was ensuring that others found new jobs or reassignments in the company during tough times of downsizing or assisting others to help them earn their Ph.Ds. The bulk of Charles Black’s work contributions will go unknown as they were highly classified for the protection of our country, but the impact will continue for years to come. Charles was a wonderful husband, father and Papa always putting his family first. He was a member of First Baptist Carrollton while living in Farmers Branch and later Prestonwood Baptist after their move to Plano, Texas.
He is survived by his wife of fifty-six years, Ann Black of Plano, Texas; daughters, Laura Shepherd and husband Scott of Irving, Texas and Jackie Gallagher and husband Joe of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; grandchildren Sarah Shepherd and Matt Black;
Charles was preceded in death by his parents, William E. Black and Lena Phillips Hanson; his brother Edgar Black as well as his son, Charles Alan Black.
The family would like to thank all that have prayed for Charles and them during this long season of pain and suffering as well as the incredible caregivers he had including, Sarah, Jane, Mary, Tea and Sam, owner at Garden View home as well as his special Hospice Plus team: Bea, April, Eddie, Judith, Sharon, Tina and Happy
A funeral service will be held Tuesday, December 17, 2013 at 2:00 p.m. at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Chapel in Allen, Texas. Interment will follow at Ridgeview Memorial park in Allen, Texas with military honors. The family will receive friends during a visitation being held Monday, December 16, 2013 from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home in Allen, Texas.