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Official Obituary of

Charles Edward (Charlie) Cecil, Jr.

July 28, 1960 ~ March 10, 2022 (age 61) 61 Years Old

Charles Cecil, Jr. Obituary

Charles Edward Cecil, Jr. (Charlie) passed away in Dyersburg, Tennessee, on March 10, 2022. He was the son of Charles Edward Cecil and Dainie Fisher Cecil. He was born on July 28, 1960, in Hayti, Missouri, and he grew up in Caruthersville, Missouri.

Charlie attended Sacred Heart Catholic School, and he graduated from Caruthersville High School in 1978.

Charlie had the "Cecil sense of humor". He would tape the early version of Jeopardy and then watch it with others later in the day, making them think that he knew all the answers. He was fond of telling bad jokes and even worse puns.

Charlie grew up as a huge St. Louis Cardinal fan, and he shared that love of the game with his family. Looking around his house, you could imagine that he must have owned every tee shirt, pennant and stein that the Cardinals ever produced.

Charlie's other passion was race cars. Building race cars. Driving race cars. Watching races both in person and on television. Race cars made him happy.

Many of Charlie's favorite pastimes involved his family. He enjoyed hunting and fishing with his siblings, his children, and his nieces and nephews. They would play cards and board games late into the night, often with unfounded accusations of "cheating" being thrown around the table. Charlie was always happy firing up his grill at every family get-together, and family and friends looked forward to these meals with great anticipation.

Charlie is survived by Gretchen Pembroke, the mother of his first five children: his daughter April Helwege, her husband Travis and their children Connor and Maelee; his daughter Courtney Beaver and her husband James; his son Easton Cecil; his daughter Allison Cecil and her daughter Hazel Barber; his son Alan Cecil; his daughter Alicia Jeffers, her husband Matthew and their children Charlotte and Abigail; his sister Mary Theresa Speidel; his brother Eugene Cecil, and his brother Joe Cecil.

Memorial services were held Monday, March 14th, 2022, at 5:00 p.m. in the H.S. Smith Chapel in Caruthersville, Missouri. H. S. Smith Funeral Home in charge of services.

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