Charles Edgar Stevens
Oct. 10, 1925 – Sept. 4, 2015

Dr. Charles Edgar Stevens, 89, passed away peacefully at Cypress Glen Retirement Community in Greenville on Friday, September 4, 2015.

Charlie was born on October 10, 1925 in Society Hill, South Carolina to the Reverend Charles Ezekiel Stevens and Mary Pearl Stevens. In 1952, he married Margaret “Peggy” Mann Swindell, the love of his life.

A graduate of Wadesboro High School, Stevens earned his undergraduate degree in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, his master’s from East Carolina University and his doctorate from UNC-CH.

Dr. Stevens was a lifelong educator, beginning in the Washington public schools and ultimately retiring as dean of the prestigious ECU School of Music.  Throughout his career, Charlie was a beloved teacher and administrator, forever touching the lives of countless students and colleagues.

A classically trained musician, Dr. Stevens was the piano accompanist for many faculty performers and especially enjoyed a series of recitals in Japan.  He also directed many church choirs concluding with Oakmont Baptist Church in Greenville where he remained a member. Charlie also was a faithful member of the Greenville Rotary Club, serving as a longtime music leader.  Charlie was well loved at Cypress Glen and greatly enjoyed performing in piano recitals there.  While renowned for his many performances through the years, however, nothing ever could match his rendition of “Peg O’ My Heart” for his sweetheart, Peggy.

Dr. Stevens was a proud brother of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia and recently was honored for more than fifty years of service to this music fraternity. In his later years, Charlie loved to talk about his friendship with his “little brother” in the fraternity, Andy Griffith. Charlie also was fond of reminiscing about the many summers he spent at Camp Sea Gull in Arapahoe where he served as head counselor and director of evening programs.  He felt extremely honored to be inducted into the Camp Sea Gull/Camp Seafarer Hall of Fame in September 2014, along with his late wife, Peggy.

Charlie was adept at everything he did, from playing the piano to playing tennis.  He loved yard work and was a skilled handyman around the house.  In college, he was the master bell ringer at the iconic UNC Bell Tower.  Dr. Stevens was a respected academic and known for his research of Christian I. Latrobe in the Library of York Minster, York, England. Among his best memories were sailing adventures on the Pamlico and Neuse rivers, Chesapeake and San Francisco bays and taking the kids waterskiing on Blounts Bay.

Dr. Stevens is survived by two daughters, Margaret Mauney and husband Kevin of Winston-Salem, and Mary Charles Jenkins and husband Jack of Morehead City. His grandchildren, Jacob Holmes Jenkins of Denver, Co., Anna Margaret Jenkins of Morehead City, and Charles Nantz Mauney of Winston-Salem, remember their Papa’s wonderful sense of humor and the example he set as a kind, patient and giving gentleman. He is also survived by a sister, Carolyn Crutchfield and husband Graham of Raleigh, and a brother, Raymond Stevens and wife Jean of Roswell, Georgia. In addition to his wife, Peggy, Dr. Stevens was preceded in death by a sister, Truett Whipple.

The family will receive visitors at Wilkerson Funeral Home at 1:30 on Sunday, September 6, with a celebration of Charlie’s life to follow in the chapel at 2:30 and burial thereafter at Oakdale Cemetery in Washington.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Charles E. And Margaret S. Stevens Endowment at East Carolina University, ECU Foundation, 2200 S. Charles Blvd., Greenville, NC  27858.

Online condolences may be given at www.wilkersonfuneralhome.com.