Charles Bryson McBrayer

Charles Bryson McBrayer, 70, of Laurel Springs, died October 10,

2019 at his home in Laurel Springs, North Carolina. He was

predeceased by his parents, Charles (Pete) and Linda McBrayer of

Forest City, NC, and his brothers Tommy and Chris McBrayer. He is

survived by his wife, Jeanne; sons, Bryson McBrayer of Hartsville, SC

and his wife Melissa; David McBrayer and his wife Emily of Raleigh,

NC; Brothers, Richard McBrayer and his wife Phyllis of

Rutherfordton, NC, Grady McBrayer and his wife Sheila of Taylors,

SC; Sister, Lee McBrayer Logan and her husband, Beattie, of

Asheville, NC; Grandchildren, Avery, Lily, Charlotte, and Layla

McBrayer, and Caden Smith; sister-in-law Katy Hall and her husband

Kenny of Laurel Springs; brothers-in-law Chris Turner and his wife

Debbie of Banner Elk; Tim Turner and his wife Elizabeth of Chapel

Hill, NC; John Turner and his wife Patti of Boone, NC; Jeff Turner and

his wife Anna of Ft. Myers, FL; and Patrick Turner and his wife Alice of

Cary, NC; many nieces, nephews and extended family of McBrayers,

Turners, and Halls.

Charlie was born in Shelby, NC, March 19, 1949, the oldest of six

children. From the beginning he has always looked out for his family

and has always been a constant in their lives. Charlie was always a

determined goal-setter. Once he set his goal, he worked tirelessly

and with great willpower to achieve it. He became an Eagle Scout

while still in junior high. He was first chair trombone at Grimsley High

School in Greensboro. He wanted to buy a car when he turned 16,

and worked every Saturday at a gas station for 14 hours a day

throughout high school to pay for it. His dream was to graduate from

N.C. State University, and he worked many jobs to pay his way

including working in the cafeteria at St. Mary’s College and selling

cheese at Hickory Farms. While at N.C. State, he fell in love with

fellow student Jeanne Turner. Within six months they were engaged,

and were married on May 19, 1971 while they were still college

students. Taking turns finishing their degrees, Charlie achieved his

goal, graduating with a degree in economics in 1973. Immediately

following graduation, he was offered a job in the Business Office at

N.C. State in Raleigh, where he worked as Director of Student Loans

and then Director of Payroll and Benefits. While serving in those

positions, he drew on his love of all things electronic and technology-

related, and led teams developing and installing software programs

back in the days when it was done on keypunch cards and floppy

disks. While he was still employed at N.C. State, he wanted to buy a

ski boat, since he was an excellent slalom skier. He purchased and

ran a laundromat as a second business to reach that goal, and the

family enjoyed many happy days on Lake Gaston, Falls Lake, and

Jordan Lake. He also played trombone in The Little German Band,

performing at the Faculty Club in Raleigh, and many Octoberfests. He

and Jeanne even travelled with the band to Germany and Austria in

1976. After fifteen years at the NCSU Business Office, Charlie

decided to work in the private sector as a financial advisor. He

passed the Series 7 exam on the first attempt, and for the next 27

years worked as a stockbroker with Prudential Investments, then

Wachovia Securities, and finally Wells Fargo Advisors as his company

changed its identity over the years. It was quite a gamble to start a

new career in his forties with a school-teacher wife paying the bills

and two young sons at home. Again, with great determination,

Charlie enjoyed success, and was much loved by his co-workers and

many of his clients, who became good friends as well. In 1996

Charlie fulfilled another lifetime goal of becoming a private pilot, and

enjoyed recreationally flying rented Cessnas. Another goal was to

own a place in Ashe County, NC, where he had been deer hunting

with his brother-in-law Kenny, and camping together with the two

families since the early 1970’s. Kenny and Katy generously shared

some of their land, and he and Jeanne built a log cabin garage

apartment in 2006. Later they sold their house in Wake Forest, NC,

moved to a rental house in Raleigh, and built their log cabin home.

In 2015 Charlie was faced with the biggest challenge of his life when

diagnosed with a terminal disease of metastatic prostate cancer that

had already spread throughout his bones. He immediately set to

work to try to beat this prognosis, drastically changing his diet and

habits, submitting to all recommended treatments. He and Jeanne

renewed their faith in God, which was probably the biggest blessing

to come of facing the battle with cancer. Charlie found out about

many men who had been successfully treated at Dattoli Cancer

Center in Sarasota, Florida. A short time later, Charlie and Jeanne

began staying for many months at a time in Florida, where he

underwent a total of 145 days of radiation over the next three years.

During his first two sessions, they very gratefully lived with Jeanne’s

brother Jeff and his wife Anna in Ft. Myers, and left before dawn for

the daily 90-mile trip to Sarasota. After the first seven months of

treatment, he was in what was hoped to be permanent remission, but

a year later his cancer had returned and spread to more places in his

bones. He and Jeanne moved permanently to their mountain home,

fulfilling his dream, and making two more extended trips to Sarasota.

Finally they had done all they could for him there, and he was treated

by Dr. Tate and then Dr. Boyd at the Ashe Oncology Center at Ashe

Memorial Hospital. He and Jeanne could not say enough good

things about the staff at the infusion center and cancer center and all

of the staff at Ashe, only 11 miles from home and with a very loving

and caring environment. Despite all his treatment, his cancer

continued to progress to his liver, brain, and more places in his

bones. After spending more than a month in Winston-Salem at

Baptist Hospital in August and September of this year, Charlie came

home to the mountains under Hospice care. He died peacefully at

home surrounded by his family on October 10, 2019.

Charlie’s family was of greatest importance to him, and he loved

nothing better than spending time with his sons, daughters-in-law,

grandchildren, and the McBrayer, Turner, and Hall relatives who all

loved him as a family patriarch. For many years, he and Jeanne

hosted a family Christmas party for all the Turners at their home in

Wake Forest, where Charlie would either fry or smoke a couple of

turkeys. He was also an expert at cooking a pig, and hosted many

pig-pickings for family, friends, and even for his clients at his annual

team functions. He loved nature, the mountains, and the beach.

Every year he and Jeanne spent a week at Sunset Beach or Ocean

Isle with all of the children, grandchildren, and assorted McBrayer

and Turner relatives. He had a great love for music of many genres,

from country and bluegrass to rock and roll to classical. On their

many commutes from Raleigh to Laurel Springs, he would play his

“Ascent” CD with a playlist of music that inspired him from Andrea

Bocelli to Alabama. For the past seven years or so, he and Jeanne

attended all four days of Merlefest in North Wilkesboro along with

good friends.

The family would like to thank all of Charlie’s doctors, nurses,

technicians, and staff members who have cared for him, especially

Dr. Kurtz, Dr Boyd, and Dr. Dattoli, the staff of doctors and nurses at

Ashe Memorial, Sarasota Memorial, and Baptist Hospitals, and the

wonderful caregivers at Medi-Home Health and Hospice.

Services will be Monday, October 14, at Jefferson United Methodist

Church, 115 E. Main Street, Jefferson, NC, 28640, with visitation from

1:00-3:00 followed by funeral service with Rev. David Lawrence

presiding. Arrangements provided by Badger Funeral Home, 300 E.

Main Street, West Jefferson, NC.

In lieu of flowers, the family would prefer memorial donations to The V

Foundation, (Victory Over Cancer), www.v.org; Samaritan’s Purse,

samaratanspurse.org, or the Jefferson United Methodist Church Food

Pantry Fund, PO Box 236, Jefferson, NC 28640, or the charity of

your choice.