Local icon Charles Glover dead at 83

By Jimmy Simms

On Iron Bowl Day Saturday, a day former Auburn University Board of Trustees member Charles Glover and thousands of Alabamians look forward to 364 days in advance, Glover’s family, friends, business associates and acquaintances mourned the passing of a man many agree epitomizes what it is to be a true Southern gentleman.

Glover, 83, a long-time Cullman businessman, developer and community leader, died Saturday morning in Huntsville Hospital as the result of injuries sustained when he was struck by an automobile on Childhaven Road Northeast late Friday afternoon as he was walking to his home located on Lake George.

The accident occurred around 5:39 p.m. on Childhaven Road, just south of the Alabama Highway 157 intersection, according to Cullman Police investigating officer Shannon Cecil.

“Cora Smith, 41, of Falkville, was driving her 1996 Pontiac Grand Am north on Childhaven Road accompanied by her two children. Mr. Glover was also walking northbound in the road. He was wearing dark clothing and was struck by the Smith vehicle as it passed,” Cecil said. “She remained on the scene and cooperated with the investigation, which is ongoing.”

Cecil said Glover initially received treatment at the scene from Cullman EMS paramedics and Cullman City Fire emergency medical technicians. He was later flown by AirEvac helicopter from the scene to Huntsville Hospital where he was listed in critical condition upon arrival. He died of his injuries a short time later, Cecil said.

For those who knew him best, the news of the accident and then his passing, left them stunned and in shock.

“Shock, I suppose, is about as good a way to explain what we’re feeling this morning as anything,” said long-time friend and associate Harold Mayo, who visited Glover Friday afternoon at his Caboose at the rear of the Deep South Classics building he owned on Fifth Avenue Southwest.

“I was with him until around 4 p.m. and I understand the accident occurred not long after that,” Mayo said. “The battery was down on the little car he drives and so he was going to leave it at the caboose and come back and get it later. I offered to give him a ride home, but he said he was going to wait for his wife Marcia to come by and pick him up. I guess he decided to walk home to Lake George. It’s a walk he has often made, but for whatever reason he didn’t make it home this time.”

Mayo said he remembered Glover from their high school days together, and later they would see each other in church.

“We played Rook together for years and when I retired I would spend most of my spare time at the office he had before he got his caboose, and afterward I spent all the time I could at the caboose,” Mayo said. “We were close friends. He was a great guy. He loved Auburn and he loved Cullman County. It’s hard enough to deal with the passing of someone who dies after a lengthy illness and Charlie has had his share of health problems recently. But to lose him like this. It was unexpected and it’s difficult to deal with.”

Grover Reeves said he and Glover have been close friends for well over 30 years.

“Charlie and I were friends way back in 1966. I moved away for a while and came back home in 1976. From then to now we have been the best of friends and when it comes to Charlie Glover you can’t have a better friend,” Reeves said. “Charlie is what I would call a prince of a fellow and a dear friend in every sense of the word. We’ve gone to ball games and funerals together. We’ve spent a lot of time together and some of the happiest memories I have are of times spent with Charlie.”

A tremendous Auburn supporter, Reeves, a Mississippi State alumnus, recalled how he, Glover, Therman Murphree and Doice Smith, traveled together to this year’s Auburn-Mississippi State game.

“We had the best time on the ride over and back. I enjoyed the time we spent visiting as much as I did the game,” Reeves said. “Later, I surprised him with a belated birthday present of a Mississippi State cowbell. He got the biggest kick out of that.”

Reeves last saw his friend during lunch Friday at Grumpy’s.

“It’s hard to believe we won’t sit down and break bread together again,” Reeves said. “Charlie was what you would call a Chesterfield. He was a true gentleman and a friend. He will be missed so much.”

Raised on the family farm at Culpepper Hill west of Cullman, Glover graduated from Cullman High in 1942. He farmed for the next two years before entering the service. After the war he returned to the farm, briefly before attending St. Bernard College for two years then on to Auburn, then called Alabama Polytechnic Institute, where he received a degree in agriculture science.

He worked for the Farmers Home Administration in Wetumpka, near Montgomery, for five years. He returned home to Cullman and soon after he and Horace Culpepper went into the automobile business together.

In later years Glover delved into real estate and operated the Ugly Duckling used car rental business. He backed Guy Hunt when Hunt was probate judge and later elected governor.

In 1990 some Hunt backers came to Glover to see if he would allow himself to be considered for a vacancy on the Auburn board from this district. His nomination sailed through.

Glover’s term on the Auburn board expired in December 2002. He could not be reappointed because he was past retirement age.

Glover’s devotion to Auburn and Cullman County is unmistakable, said his good friend Therman Murphree, who also saw his old friend for the last time during lunch Friday.

“Charlie and I have so much in common. We shared a business partnership when we were in the warehouse rental business together. Together we developed his Deep South Classics property and personally did most of the work over there to preserve that site. He was so proud of that and his caboose. We attended the same church and we shared a personal friendship that goes back many, many years,” Murphree said. “I know we should be comforted in knowing that Charlie is in a better pace, but there is no way to prepare for a loss like this. Cullman and Auburn have certainly lost one of their biggest supporters and ambassadors.”

Murphree and Glover were both among the original organizers of Cullman County’s annual Farm-City event. It was during Thursday night’s annual banquet that Glover reminded Murphree about lunch on Friday.

“He wanted me to have lunch with him Friday. We usually try to meet for lunch at least once a week. I had made plans with the family to do something else Friday, but I told my wife Jean, Charlie is one of my dearest friends and I’m going to go have lunch with him and so we changed our plans and I went and I’m so glad I did,” Murphree said. “We had a fun time and talked about the Iron Bowl. He had gotten some extra tickets, but I told him I couldn’t go because of plans I had with the family.”

Afterward, Murphree said he had some misgivings about Glover attempting to go to the game by himself on Saturday.

“For some reason I had the feeling something might happen if he were to try and make the trip by himself. I didn’t think about anything happening on Friday,” Murphree said. “We were out to dinner Friday when we heard about it. He was a very special person in my life. He inspired me and a lot of other people. He taught me to accept life as it is. Charlie Glover was a statesman in our community. He loved people and he could never do enough for you. I loved him like a brother.”

Former Alabama first lady Marsha Folsom, who leases an office in Glover’s old warehouse building on Fifth Avenue, said she was stunned to hear about his death in such a tragic way.

“I’ve known Charlie for many years. He and my father were friends even though they sat on different sides politically,” Folsom said. “I came to know Charlie later because his wife Marcia and I are good friends. He was a kind, gentle, thoughtful man, who had a generous and giving spirit. He was very humble about his generosity. One of his greatest gifts, I think, was his humility and his desire to help others.”

“I’m so grateful I was able to get to know him. It was a delight to be able to visit him and tease each other about politics,” Folsom said. “He had a wonderful sense of humor. Charlie Glover was a gift to this community.”

Stan Voit, former managing editor of The Cullman Times, currently managing editor of the Mountain Press in Sevierville, Tenn., said he and Glover became friends soon after he and his wife Bonnie moved to Cullman from South Alabama.

“I met Charlie when I was covering Auburn sports for the Montgomery Advertiser. I renewed that friendship when I moved to Cullman and we would often meet for lunch and occasionally Bonnie and I would join him for an Auburn game in the trustees box, which was a thrill for us,” Voit said. “He was a really good friend and a classy Southern gentleman. He loved Cullman County and he never wanted to leave While he loved Auburn, and had a home there, he always looked forward to coming back to Cullman.”

Voit said it is difficult to put into words just how much Glover will be missed by this community.

“Charlie was an ambassador for Cullman County. This community grew in stature among the people Charlie Glover came into contact with across this state because Charlie was so well liked and thought of,” Voit said.

In addition to his service as an Auburn trustee, Glover was a life deacon and trustee of First Baptist Church, and a Lions Club member for 55 years, currently serving as chairman of the Cullman Lions Club membership committee. He is also a past Marie Eddleman Award recipient.

Funeral services for Glover will be held at 1 p.m. Monday at Cullman Heritage Chapel with burial in Cullman City Cemetery. Visitation will be held today from noon to 3 p.m. at Cullman Heritage Funeral Home, which is in charge of arrangements.

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