Charles Robert Carson

Charles Carson departed our world on December 6, 2023 leaving a mark on all those he encountered. A lover of philosophical citations, random factoids and Bugs Bunny quotes, to have known him is to now have one of the aforementioned etched into your memory ready to recite.

The son of Herbert Carson and Sara Carson (Smith), he was raised in Seneca, SC with his 3 surviving siblings Sara Bert, Kris and Gene and preceded in death by his brother Steven. In his youth he was a paperboy who outsmarted his older brother in speed of sales by visiting the pool halls instead of going door to door. An avid football player into his high school years and later a lifeguard at Lake Keowee. His years in Seneca garnered fond memories but he knew he wanted to get out and see more so after graduating from high school he joined the United States Navy.

During his time in uniform [1976 - 1982] as a nuclear reactor operator he earned the Order of Magellan, Order of the Ditch and The Domain of the Golden Dragon. He traveled the world, had a hell of a scare thinking his ship was going to be blown up, and may have run out on a check in Livorno, Italy. If you saw him recently he was proudly wearing either his navy sweatshirt or hat and would go out of his way to shake the hand of any Navy veteran or ask why someone is wearing Navy paraphernalia. Honorably discharged, of course.

After the Navy he earned 2 degrees at William and Mary in Economics and Philosophy and proudly worked, in costume, at the King’s Arms Tavern in Colonial Williamsburg. It was during that time when he met his future wife of 40 years, Adriene. If he’s telling the story it would go a little something like this; “I was sitting at the bar reading my Bible and drinking a glass of milk when this woman came up to me and asked me to shake it on the dance floor”. Of course we knew it was the other way around and he approached her to dance and the rest was history.

They were married in 1983 and lived in Williamsburg, VA till he finished his degrees and had their first daughter Chelsea Carson just before graduating in 1986. In 1989 they welcomed their second daughter Nicole Carson and shortly after that caved to his daughter’s love of dogs and got first of 2 pairs of golden retrievers.

He was a dedicated father who attended every soccer game, dance or music recital, musical, and fashion show. He encouraged his daughters to pursue their dreams in life, was always available for a phone call and to remind them that boys are monsters.

His career in the finance world allowed him and his family to live in eight different states: Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Texas and Georgia. He spent 20 years with Merrill Lynch and collected more bulls in sculpture or wall art form than he could count. Later he moved over to Wells Fargo, RBC and Oppenheimer before starting his own executive recruiting company Carson & Carson.

He was an avid traveler to Europe and especially loved France where he could practice his language skills, eat amazing food and drink really good wine. It wasn’t until later in life that he discovered his ancestry as being Scottish (not Irish) and traced his lineage to Edinburgh as far back as the 1700’s (confirmed through DNA). Christmas of 2016 was spent in Scotland walking his ancestral streets of Edinburgh and exploring the highlands.

Gone too soon but we are left with decades of loving memories and a philosophical curiosity as to what it all means. We will think of him when we hear a Monty Python quote, a Steely Dan song or when cooking up his favorite Florentine bolognese.