Charles William Stephenson, Sr.

Charles William ”Punky” Stephenson, Sr., 87, of N. Charleston, SC, entered eternal life October 19, 2017.

The only child and beloved son of Charles Pat and Grace Ryan Stephenson, Charlie was born January 22, 1930 in Birmingham, Alabama. His family relocated to the Park Circle area of North Charleston, SC when he was eight years old.

Charlie attended North Charleston schools and graduated from Chicora High School in 1948. While in high school, he played football for the Cooper River Blue Devils for four years. He made the All-State League in football and track and played American Legion baseball, earning the highest batting average at the time of .516.

After earning a scholarship to play football for the University of South Carolina, Charlie played for one year and then transferred his scholarship to play baseball for the University. As second baseman, he helped his team finish third in the country his senior year at Carolina. His favorite memory was of hitting a home run in the 15th inning against North Carolina State University, leading to an ACC conference championship win that year. He completed his college baseball career with a batting average of .385.

Charlie graduated from USC in 1952 with a B.S. in business administration and journalism. He then returned to Charleston and played semi-pro football for the Charleston Rebels, as well as semi-pro baseball for Garco Mill. He was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds and played three Major League games before returning to Charleston following a contract dispute.

That contract dispute led Charlie to a career opportunity in advertising he would enjoy for the next 40 years at The Charleston News and Courier (now The Post and Courier). Charlie served as major accounts manager, and later as manager of pre-printed advertising. He loved everything about the newspaper business, and his clients loved him. Among his many accolades was winning 1st place in a national advertising competition for a concept ad he created for the first Ford convertible.

Since retiring in 1992, Charlie has enjoyed helping his wife grow Camp Happy Days and Courageous Kidz, the two charity organizations she founded to benefit children and families dealing with childhood cancer.
Charlie is survived by his cherished wife of 40 years, Deborah Stephenson; his children: Victoria Stephenson Simon (Jay), Charles William Stephenson, Jr. (Pam); Stephanie Giedd Boehm and Meg Tomlinson-Giedd; a special son-in-law, Michael Collins; six grandchildren: Paul Collins, Heather Friedrichs Lyman, Lindsay Lyman Skelton, Katie Boehm, Ben Boehm and Blake Tomlinson and two great-grandchildren: Charles “Hutch” Lyman and Hayes Lyman. He was predeceased by a daughter, Karin Stephenson Collins and grandson, Charles "Stevie" William Stephenson, III.

Burial will be held at 2:30pm on Monday, October 23, 2017 at Carolina Memorial Gardens at 7113 Rivers Ave. A celebration of Charlie’s life, open to all who loved him, will take place Sunday, Nov 12 in the Kings Grant Clubhouse from 1-4pm. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Courageous Kidz, 230 Old Dominion Drive, Charleston, SC 29418 www.courageouskidz.org.