Charles Eddie Wright

Private family graveside services for Mr. Charles Eddie Wright, 92, of Crowville, LA will be held at Crowville Masonic Cemetery with Rev. Mark Powell and Rev. Floyd Hawthorne officiating. Arrangements are under the direction of Mulhearn Funeral Home, Winnsboro. In lieu of flowers, please make a donation to Winnsboro UPC in his honor. Text winnsboroupc to 77977 or mail a check to PO Box 775, Winnsboro, LA 71295.

Mr. Wright was born June 7, 1927 and passed away on May 9, 2020. He was a veteran who served in the United States Army. He is preceded in death by parents, William and Melinda Walters Wright; wife, Jewel Juanita Wright; and brothers and sisters.

Certainly, there aren’t enough words on this page to adequately describe the man we all knew and loved as Grandaddy, but to anyone who knew him, Grandaddy was all you needed to say. Grandaddy had five blood grandkids, but the number of now young adults that refer to him as Grandaddy are numerous. He loved them all and treated them all like his own. What I write today, I write on behalf of all of his grandkids, blood and adopted.

I think the way most of us will remember him is sitting in his swing under the big shade tree in his overalls and straw hat with a wry smile and occasional laughter as something one of us grandkids did brought joy to his soul. The stories are endless. Football games on the couch on Saturdays and Sunday afternoons. Four-wheeler rides and dove hunts where G-dads house served as the base of operations. Sitting in the lush grass and talking. Rook tournaments. Late-night games. Deer hunts at the camp. Rides on the tractors. Trips to the gin pulling a cotton trailer. Learning to drive far too young and getting stopped at the age of 9 by a state trooper (Jonathan). Football in the front yard. Bow-golf at family get-togethers. Fried chicken and ice cream. Pea and corn days. Shooting guns behind the dairy barn. Shelling butterbeans in the living room. And of course, Christmas. The family started having Christmas on Christmas Eve at Grandaddy’s house in 1952. For 67 years, that was the anchor of many Wright Family traditions. There are many traditions, but the one you didn’t dare miss was Christmas Eve at Grandaddy’s capped off with fireworks that night. I had the distinct privilege of spending the night with him and waking up very early on Christmas morning to drink coffee, talk and wait on Donnie to come help us watch the sun rise. Those are memories I will never forget.

Maybe that’s why we all stayed. All five of us. We did not leave for better jobs or the bright lights of big cities. We are all highly educated. Our careers would have undoubtedly benefited. But oh, what we would have forfeited. The memories. The life lessons. The experiences. The bonds of family. Putting down roots. The love and laughter shared. These are the things that bind us together through the good and the bad. Our shared love for each other and our savior, Jesus Christ, have bound us together the way a family should be and our Grandaddy was at the center of it all. We are blessed.

Before he was a grandfather, he was a dad. His love for his three sons and daughters-in-law was unmistakable. It was impossible to go by his house and sit for any length of time without hearing about them. Yes, the grandkids might have been number one, but he never lost his love and concern for his sons and their wives. Even after he retired, his worries and concerns for the farm came and went with the seasons. The daily events of their lives were his concerns. He cared. He wanted to know. If they hurt, he hurt. If they rejoiced, he rejoiced. The grandkids all have many stories from our fathers of the many experiences they had growing up. Hauling hay and trying to beat the rain and then relaxing in the hay as the rain pelted the tin roof of the barn. Milking cows very early in the morning and then coming in to eat steaks from the livestock they raised even though they weren’t wealthy. Birthing calves on a cold day. Bottle-feeding calves that needed a little extra TLC. Running from bulls. Stories about grease and bb-guns that aren’t fit for an obituary. Riding horses and being gone from sunup to sundown. Deer hunts and log bridges. Building fence and running an 8N Ford to work the fields. Endless miles on numerous models of John Deere tractors. Many a harvest season of cotton and corn when at last the year’s labor could be redeemed. Raising corn, peas and other vegetables and even a little extra entertainment on pea picking day one year. Oh and there’s quite a few stories of discipline.

It is impossible to write or even remember all of the great times we’ve had. Memories are now all that we have, but they are enough. The time we spent together with him, the sacrifices we made to be there, the joy and the pain, the tears and the laughter, the work and the play, they are enough. Though we may have made mistakes and certainly would do some things differently, I believe that we can largely say that we have no regrets. Our life with Grandaddy was enough. It was wonderful. We loved him, and we will all miss him dearly. Thank you Grandaddy for a life well lived and for innumerable cherished memories.

Survivors include three sons, Charles Donnie Wright and wife Caroline, James Michael Wright and wife Debbie, Carey Dalton Wright and wife Beverly; five grandchildren, Dustin Wright and wife Ashley, Landon Wright and wife Taylor, Jonathan Wright and wife Rachel, Andrea Parks and husband Chad, Corey Wright and wife Anna Claire; great-grandchildren, Elijah Wright, Eva Wright, Kate Wright, Jakin Wright, Paxton Parks, Carey Parks; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins and many special friends.


Online registry/condolences: www.mulhearnfuneralhome.com
Mulhearn Funeral Home
Winnsboro, Louisiana