OBITUARY Charles Roden Terry August 15, 1928 – December 29, 2018 Charles Roden Terry, of Mountain Brook, passed away peacefully on December 29, 2018 at home surrounded by family. He was born on August 15, 1928 at St. Vincent’s Hospital to the late Eleanor Davis and Howard Richards Terry. He was the Great-Grandson of two distinguished Birmingham pioneers, Colonel John Taliaferro Terry and Civil War veteran Benjamin F. Roden.
Colonel Terry was instrumental in building Powell School, the first free public school in the city. Benjamin F. Roden, who owned a grocery store in the heart of the city, was a member of the city’s first Board of Aldermen and a founder of both the Avondale Land Company and the Birmingham Gas and Electric Light Co. Along with his friend, Robert Jemison, Jr., he laid out the plan for the first street railways in the city. A life-long resident of Birmingham, Charles grew up in Forest Park and attended Avondale Elementary School and Birmingham University School (now Altamont School), graduating from Phillips High School in 1946.
As a boy, he spent several summers at Camp Mondamin, in North Carolina, where he developed a life-long love for the mountains and for hiking. Charles enrolled in Vanderbilt University in 1946 major-ing in Business and Economics. He was a member of Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity and par-ticipated in a number of student activities such as the yearbook and the Student Christian Association.
During college years he enjoyed serving as a hiking counselor at Camp Mondamin. One particularly happy result of going to Vanderbilt was meeting his future wife, Nashvillian Katy Anderson, in a freshman math class there. After a four-year courtship, he and Katy were married in September 1950, following their May graduation.
The young couple settled in Mountain Brook, and Charles began a life-long career with his father’s real estate firm, McConnell, White, and Terry. Charles later became the company’s President. Throughout the years, he has been heavily involved in investing in and developing real estate.
As Chairman of the Board he has continued being actively involved with the company until recent months. Charles and his wife, Katy, joined Canterbury United Methodist Church in 1951. A deeply committed Christian, Charles served the church faithfully throughout the years.
He served as Chairman of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, the Evangelism Committee, the Counseling Committee, the Administrative Board (which is now referred to as the Church Council), the Board of Trustees, and was Lay Leader of the church. For sixty years, Charles and his wife Katy were active members of the John Wesley Sunday School Class, of which he served as President. For many years Charles was in charge of procuring teachers for the class, frequently teaching the class himself.
For twenty-five years, he and Katy served on the Advisory Board of Aqueduct Confer-ence Center in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. This was an outreach ministry of Dr. Tommy Tyson, who served as Conference Evangelist of the United Methodist Church of North Carolina. For three years he served as Chairman of the Alabama Camp Farthest Out, a non-denominational Christian family camp that meets yearly at Camp Sumatanga.
He has had a long term interest in the development and expansion of Camp Sumatanga, which is the retreat center for the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. Charles served on the North Alabama Conference Committee on Spiritual Formation under the late Reverend Bert Goodwin. He has also played an effective role h in fund-raising activities for the camp.
Charles served as Trustee of the Roden Estate, and was on the Board of the original non-profit Hill Crest Hospital before it was sold in 1983. The Hill Crest Charitable Foundation was formed at this time, and Charles became a member of the board. In 1998 he became Chairman of the Board, and has occupied this position until the present time.
Since its founding in 1983, Hill Crest Foundation has been a great for good in Alabama through its numerous grants to schools, colleges, hospitals, and civic endeavors all over the state. He was a life-long member of the Country Club of Birmingham, and also be-longed to The Club. He was also a member of The Descendants of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Charles was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. He and his wife, Katy, centered their lives around their family. When their children were young, Charles organized numerous hiking, camping, and canoeing trips for the family.
Many summer vacations were spent hiking and camping in such locations as the Great Smoky Mountains, Rocky Mountain National Park, Glacier National Park, Grand Teton National Park, and the Canadian Rockies. In recent years, he has included his children and grand-children on many European trips. The family particularly enjoyed hiking in the Italian Dolomites and the Swiss Alps.
There was also an annual fall family camping hiking trip to the Great Smoky Mountains . After their own children were grown, Charles and Katy’s greatest joy was to have grand-children and their friends in their home frequently for meals and “sleep-overs”. Charles was pre-deceased by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Howard R. Terry, his older brother, Dr. Howard R. Terry of Santa Cruz.
California, and his brother-in-law, Dr. James E. Anderson, Jr. Survivors include his wife, Katy, his daughters, Mary Eleanor Butcher (Tim) of Deland, Florida, and Anne Hicks (Barrett), of Birmingham, and his son, Charles R. Terry Jr. (Helen) of Birmingham. Grandchildren include: Dr. Barrett Hicks, III (Dr. Yige Hu), of Sunnyvale, California, Katherine Hicks Bednasek (Jason), Dr. Stephen Hicks, Elizabeth Hicks, Dr. Charles R.Terry, III (Shea), Mary Helen Terry, all of Birmingham, Richard Butcher (Jenn), of Atlanta, Georgia, James Butcher of Deland, Florida, and Vanessa Mallicoat (Skyler) of Honolulu, Hawaii. Great-grandchildren include: twins Vivian and Miles Bednasek, Elizabeth Mallicoat, Hannah Mallicoat, Katie Mallicoat, Caroline Mallicoat, and Ruth Mallicoat.
Charles is also survived by his sister-in-law, Mrs. James E. Anderson, Jr. of Nashville, Tennessee and several nieces and nephews. A memorial service will be held at a Canterbury United Methodist Church on Friday, January 4th at 2:00 P.M, preceded by a reception in Canterbury Hall from 12:30 until 2:00.
If you found any mistakes, or you would like to add/remove to this obituary, please contact us by email: info@obituary.memorial. We never ask money for this.
