Rev. Charles E. Hilliard

Charles Edwin Hilliard, the son of Rev. William Earl and Ruby Mae (Williams) Hilliard was born March 4th, 1934 in Danville, Iowa. He married Ruth Ann Brown on September 27th, 1953. To this union was born two sons and one daughter. Little did Ruth Ann know that she had married a wanna be cattleman. Charles and Ruth had Shorthorn cattle for many, many years so baling hay became a family event each summer. It wouldn’t be a surprise for Charles to go out in his suit and tie on Easter Sunday morning to help one of his mamas deliver her calf. Preceding him in death were his parents, two infant brothers, two nephews, Roger & Danny Jenkins; niece, Carol Ann Mayberry; great niece, Cindy Mayberry; three sisters and two brothers-in-law, Dorothy Pauline Hilliard, Wilma Marie and Gordon Jenkins and Mary Ellen and Earl Jones. Surviving him are his loving wife, Ruth Ann; two sons, William Charles (Wendy) Hilliard and Tony Eugene (Beverly) Hilliard; one daughter, Judith Ann (Jesse) Foster; 7 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. Charles was drafted by the Army when he was 18 years of age, but was very disappointed when he didn’t qualify to serve due to arthritis and curvature of the spine. He graduated from the National School of Meat Cutting in Toledo, Ohio and became a Journeyman Meatcutter at age 18. Charles knew of his call to the ministry at the age of 15 at a summer church camp in Decatur, Illinois. He completed his study and received his Minister’s License from the Illinois Churches of God Eldership. He and Ruth then moved to Iowa to pastor his first church at the Maple Grove Church of God in Sutherland, Iowa. While in Iowa, he attended additional courses to further his ministry career and also worked as a meat cutter. He was ordained at Maple Grove Church of God in August of 1962. In 1963, Charles & Ruth moved to Michigan to pastor the Eagle, Arthur Center and Colonville Churches of God for a total of 22 years. Even after his ordination, Charles attended classes, some of them abroad, each year to further his knowledge of scripture and ministry. He also made several mission trips to Haiti and led two tour groups through the Holy Land. He served on the National Board of Missions through the Churches of God, which did much work with the Navajo Indians in Gamerico, Mexico. Charles served as a Trustee to Findlay College, President of the Michigan Conference of the Churches of God and the Dean of the Summer Family Church Camp for several years. Charles also served as Clare County’s first Public Guardian and remained serving in this position for 25 years. He also served as a Public Guardian for Isabella, Wayne, Gladwin, Osceola and Genesee counties. Charles and Ruth were co-owners of Care-More Living Centers, where he served as Director for 13 years. Upon retirement from Care-More, Charles & Ruth moved to Florida and became snowbirds, where Charles pastored a small retirement congregation until the Spring of 2019. During their time in Florida, Charles served as the Chairman of the Transition Committee as well as the Chairman of the first Board of Directors of the West View Ridge retirement community. Charles loved to travel and invest in people. Those that knew him will remember him as a guy to get things done the right way and as one who always pushed and encouraged people to stand up straight and fly right. Our loss is also a loss to anyone who never got to meet him. Due to COVID-19, there will be a private, family only service. The family requests donations to St. Jude’s Research Hospital in lieu of flowers.

Rev. Charles E. Hilliard

March 4, 1934 - August 8, 2020