Charles Henry Pickett's Obituary
Charles “Ola” Pickett was born on February 8, 1938 to William and Louise Pickett of Ohio. He graduated from Collinswood High School in Cleveland, OH and was a drum major while in school. He taught calligraphy at the University of Pittsburgh. Early in his life he acquired barbering skills, cutting designs before it was popular. He made a cultural identity statement in his fashion wearing African design attire and with his towering height, he was definitely noticed. He was a member of the Masonic Order. He loved music and was a good singer; an avid reader with a love of knowledge; he loved learning and sharing with others; he was a powerful orator during the Civil War Rights movement. He commanded an audience in an open field otherwise known as his “soap box”.He lived all over the U.S. and performed many jobs. He made African inspired jewelry and created beautiful artwork that he shared with anyone that was interested. One of his moves to Los Angeles, he worked in the special arts program for special needs children which he thoroughly enjoyed and spoke of it throughout his life. One of his dreams until his passing was to establish an art center for special needs youth in San Diego, CA.Funny thoughts about him was he lived in the “fathom”. He took forever to make his potato salad, he also took his time eating his meals (breakfast could turn into lunch, lunch could turn into dinner, dinner could turn into breakfast), he would always make homemade pancakes from scratch and over easy eggs that were always runny. He would always run late so much so, his wife would have to get him ready at minimum two hours before it’s time to leave. We call that CPT= Charles Pickett Time!!!His favorite sayings were, “Dig that” and “Praise the Lord”. His voice message on his answering machine (prior to cell phones) would say “God’s overall”.We can agree that whatever he was known or called by; “Pee-Wee”, “Brother Pickett”, “Ola”, “Charles”, “Pickett”, “Pops”, “Dadi”, “M.O.D.”, he was a well-loved man by all.Preceding him in death are his parents, William and Louise Pickett, brothers Jimmy, Buddy and Bobby. Left to cherish his memory are his lovely wife Freddiemae, his siblings Abdul, Janice, and Ronny; his children Bernal, Cynthia, Mann, Tanzania, Malik, Jireh, Jahdai and a host of loving family and friends.
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