Funeral arrangements announced: Retired Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge Carl J. Character is dead at 88, and was a law partner with the Stokes brothers and a past president of the National Bar Association.... The late congressman Louis Stokes, whose late brother Carl Stokes was a former Cleveland judge and the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city, once described Judge Character on the floor of congress as a distinguished member of the judiciary and a former trial attorney who "represented a variety of clients, from Fortune 500 companies to welfare recipients and professional athletes." .... Character's daughter, Dea Character, told Clevelandurbannews.com that her father was "a great man and an unimaginable role model".... By editor Kathy Wray Coleman of Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com
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| Retired Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas judge Carl J. Character, a past president of the National Bar Association, and his wife of many years, Dee Ann Character. Judge Character, of Shaker Heights, passed away Aug. 24 at Veterans Hospital following a longtime battle with Lou Gehrig's disease |
REMEMBERING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF JUDGE CARL J. CHARACTER
(1930-2018)
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| Retired Judge Carl J. Character |
CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM-SHAKER HEIGHTS, Ohio-Retired Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas judge Carl J. Character of Shaker Heights, a former president of the National Bar Association for Black lawyers who was among the first of three Black men to win a seat on the general division common pleas court of Cuyahoga County, died Friday morning at Veterans Hospital after a long battle with Lou Gehrig's disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) disease). He was 88.
Funeral arrangements are by Strowder's Funeral Home. (Viewing is Friday, Aug, 31, 10:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. at Strowder's, 822 East 105th Street in Cleveland, with calling hours at 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m, and the wake is Saturday, Sept. 1, at 10:00 at Mount Sinai Baptist Church, 7510 Woodland Avenue in Cleveland, followed immediately by funeral services a 11:00 a.m).
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| Judge Character with his youngest daughter, Darla Character-Johnson, also an attorney like her father |
In addition to Dea Character, who said her father beat the odds and lived for more than 24 years with Lou Gehrig's disease, the elder Character leaves behind his wife of many years, Dee Ann Character, another daughter, Darla Character-Johnson, who is also an attorney, eight grandchildren and eight great grandchildren. (Editor's note: The life expectancy of a person with Lou Gehrig's disease (ALS) averages about two to five years from the time of diagnosis).
A Cleveland native, Judge Character attended Cleveland public schools and graduated from Glenville High School. He completed undergraduate studies at Ohio State University with a degree in accounting and received his juris doctorate from the University of Michigan. He went on to earn a master's of law from Cleveland Marshall College of Law of Cleveland State University.
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| Judge Carl J. Character in his younger years |
A lawyer-turned judge Judge Character, a Democrat, practiced early on in his career as a trial attorney in the law firm of Stokes, Terry, Character, and Perry, which included as partners the late Ohio congressman Louis Stokes and his brother, the late Carl B. Stokes, a former Cleveland judge and the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city,
Former Congressman Stokes, Ohio's first Black member of the U.S. House of Representatives who himself died in 2015, saluted Character, who served on the common pleas bench from 1987-1997, on the congressional floor in 1996.
Congressman Stokes highlighted aspects of
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| Former Ohio congressman the late Louis Stokes (left), and his brother, the late Carl B. Stokes, a former Cleveland judge and the first Black mayor of Cleveland and of a major American city |
Character's grandchildren said their grandfather is irreplaceable.
"I lost my grandfather early this morning," said Jasmine Daughtery, Character's granddaughter, in a Facebook post "I have thousands of memories I could share, but to me he was just Dad, my Gramps."
Carl Character was a member of Emmanuel Baptist Church and the Interchurch Council, and he served in the Korean War. He was also a member of the Norman Minor Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc., and was a lifelong member of the NAACP, among a host of other reputable organizations.
Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, Ohio's most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog with some 5 million views on Google Plus alone.Tel: (216) 659-0473 and Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. Kathy Wray Coleman, editor-in-chief, and who trained for 17 years at the Call and Post Newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.
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