Charles Trevathan: A Man For All Seasons
Charles Trevathan was my college professor, mentor, and close friend. He taught me so much about life and how to live it to the fullest. We spent a summer semester together at St.Hughes College in Oxford, England, and had the time of our lives. We had breakfast once a week at the Eagle and Child (where J.R.R. Tolken and C.S. Lewis would critique one another's latest works). We toured Stonehenge, Stratford Upon the Avon, Westminster, Salisbury Cathedral, HMS Victory, and almost all of London.
Charles lived life with passion and truly made every day his "own masterpiece." He also had a passion for golf and that is why I have dedicated this blog and this golf tournament to him... The Annual Charles Trevathan Cup.
Charles lived an amazing life! He grew up with Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) in Louisville, KY, and served as president of the Young Democrats while in college at David Lipscomb University in Nashville (where he became close friends with Elanor Roosevelt). Charles was very instrumental in during the Equal Rights period and did all that he could to make sure ANY MAN or WOMAN could work, play, and worship wherever they wanted to, no matter what their color might be.
Charles worked as an attorney for 25 years in Louisville, KY, but the words of his good friend Elanor Roosevelt never stop haunting him... "When you've traveled all of the places I have traveled and accomplished all the things I have accomplished, you realize that the most rewarding thing in life is the ability to influence a young mind." And so, in 1991, Charles left Kentucky and traveled to Abilene, TX, where he began a new career as professor at Abilene Christian University. In 2001, he was selected by the students of ACU as "Teacher of the Year."
In 2003, and he gave the charge to the graduating class at ACU's May Commencement. He encouraged graduates to live up to the university’s slogan of "Change the World," be it one business department or neighborhood street at a time. Trevathan taught several popular sociology classes including Introduction to Sociology, Cultural Diversity, and Ethics and Social Issues.
He was the proud father of three beautiful and talented daughters and was the loving husband of a beautiful, sweet, kind, and loving wife- Phyllis (who is very dear to me and my family).
Chuck was also a great storyteller! I love to re-tell his great stories about knocking out Ali when he was a kid, driving in his old jelopy around NYC with Elanor Roosevelt, his "White Castle" experience with his "adopted" daughter, his best friend who lost his life to cancer, his golf round of a lifetime that ended on the 17th hole when God "humbled" him, the list goes on and on!
Charles will always be loved and admired by so many people and I hope this blog and the Annual Trevathan Cup will keep his memory alive and well for the many people who knew him and loved him.
We love you, Charles!!!
Brian Davis
2 comments:
My memories of Dr Trevathan are two-fold and are from two different perspectives. The first one was in the early 90's at ACU, when he was the legal man for the Dean's office when it came to pledging infractions. He was straightforward which was fine in dealing with adults so to speak, but not with students, or at least that's how we all took it. Most of the guys I ran with didn't like him or his tactics, and so when I later found myself in a course with him, my immediate reaction was from those 1st encounters.
I actually met him and he remembered me from those earlier days, except now I was back in school in the late 90's finishing my degree. I took an Ethics course with him, that was superb. It was probably one of the best courses I have had, only after Willard Tate courses and a couple of upper-level history classes.
He was nothing like the person I knew before, except he was still the same and I was the one who had changed. He was a remarkable man with a gift for relating basic tenets of life into everyday actions.
I understand completely your loss, and ours too.
I just found this posting on the Trevathan Cup, and want to thank all of you for keeping the memory of my uncle alive. He was a great man, who inspired me as a child and as an adult, and whose advice continues to help me to this day. Although I am a physician rather than a lawyer, and in spite of the fact that I don't play golf, I am often told that I am more like my uncle than my father (Norman, also a great man and professor). My father, and his little brother (Charles) gave to all of their children a passion for social justice and a love of students - their common legacy.
Wishing all of you who play in the Trevathan Cup the very best,
Edwin Trevathan
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