Charles McGehee Isaacs

1954 - 2017

Isaacs, Charles McGehee
Charles McGehee Isaacs, who went by McGehee, passed away on Saturday, September 23, 2017, while doing one of his very favorite things in the world – watching college football. He was 63 years old. McGehee was born in Lexington, Kentucky in 1954. He graduated from Sayre School in 1972, from Denison University in 1976 and from Northern Kentucky University – Chase College of Law in 1979. A brilliant litigator who graduated near the top of his law school class as class president, he eschewed more lucrative positions in order to practice public interest law and eventually became the Head of Post-Convictions for the Public Defender's Office in Frankfort, Kentucky. His career took him from Lexington to Cincinnati, Ohio where he worked for the Northern Kentucky Children's Law Center as a child advocate; to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where he worked in New York City as a Senior Claims Counsel handling bad faith claims and commercial claims litigation for American International Group; and eventually to Beijing, China where he served as President of a company he helped establish to acquire former state-owned insurance companies. In 2014 he moved back to Ohio to accept the position of Manager of Commercial Claims Litigation at Grange Insurance in Columbus. He was a member of the Dublin AM Rotary and regularly rode in charity bike-a-thons, including 7 consecutive years completing the 70-mile American Cancer Society ride (including one year where he also rode in the Pelotonia in Columbus). A deeply devoted family man who lived for, and is survived by, his three sons Christopher, Brandon and Charles, and the woman with whom he shared a 38 year love affair, his wife Betty. A curious and intellectual man, he loved to study the world and tell stories, and had the gift of making even the most trivial tale enthralling. He saw worth and had empathy for every person he met in his life, and as a result lived a life full of love and joy. A viewing followed by a memorial service is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Friday, September 29th at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church, Dublin, Ohio, and he will be interred after a burial service in the Memorial Garden of the Cathedral Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania on Friday, October 6th at 2 p.m. followed by a reception celebrating his life. The family asks that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to the Episcopal Relief and Development Fund (http://www.episcopalrelief.org/what-you-can-do/other-giving-opportunities/honor-and-memorial-gifts or Episcopal Relief & Development, P.O. Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058). Online condolences can be made at www.rutherfordfuneralhomes.com.