Charles M. Redfern Jr.

1956 - 2020

Charles M. Redfern, Jr., was released from his earthly body and peacefully entered the embrace of his Heavenly Father in the realms of eternal glory, on August 23, 2020, after a valiant 5 year battle with cancer. His first encounter with cancer had come in 1987 when he was 31 years old. Successful radiation therapy at Mass General Hospital in Boston extended his cancer-free life by nearly three decades. He was born in Minneapolis, MN on August 14, 1956 to the late Charles M. Redfern, Sr and Diana (Berger) Redfern. As he always liked to say when asked where he was from, he grew up in Minnesota, California, New Jersey and Connecticut. In 1975 he graduated from Bloomfield High School in Bloomfield, CT. From there, following in his father's footsteps, he went to Drew University in New Jersey. He enjoyed his Junior Year Abroad in Oxford, England. 1979 saw him graduate from Drew. He loved the outdoors and always gravitated to the unique, so after taking odd jobs to save up some money, he set out from CT in the spring of 1980 on a solo bicycle trip. He rode all the way across the country, through the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, up to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, back down the West Coast to California (Los Angeles area) and headed back East through the deserts, Bryce Canyon, etc., arriving back in CT 5 months later. Besides this once-in-a-lifetime bike trip, Chuck went on Outward Bound in Colorado. Hiking with friends was a favorite pastime. For several years after his bike trip, he worked as a newspaper reporter. In 1984 he had a dynamic encounter with God wherein he felt he was to change careers. To that end he pursued a Master of Divinity degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, graduating Magna Cum Laude in 1989. For the next 28 years he faithfully served churches in Boston, MA, NH and CT. Chuck was also an excellent writer. He had a blog, "The Alternative Mainstream", wrote for the Huffington Post, had a piece published in a leading New Hampshire business magazine, "New Hampshire editions", and was frequently quoted by others, as well as having a book, entitled, The Intimidation Factor, newly published. He had written a book in the early 1990's about his 1987/88 cancer ordeal, but that was never published. Several novels were also in various stages of development at the time of his passing. He had a dry wit and often left those who didn't know him well at a loss as to whether or not they should take him seriously on a given point or utterance. He took great delight in frequently posting inane, non-sensical, and/or preposterous and ridiculous things on his Face Book page and reading the responses of his friends. He also had the capacity to diffuse tense and awkward situations through the use of humor. He was an avid Red Sox fan; was fascinated with history, particularly about WW II but not limited to that; and was very fond of jazz. Increasingly over the years Chuck became passionate about global warming and climate change. To that end he was involved in several organizations. Together with other members of the Interreligious Eco-Justice Network, he served as a panelist to Washington, DC. Chuck is survived by his mother, Diana Redfern; his wife of nearly 33 years, Andrea (LaCelle) Redfern; their son, Caleb LaCelle Redfern, his grandson, Ryan Joseph Redfern; his sister, Cathy (Redfern) Levesque, her husband Dave, and their two children, Hunter and Renee; Peter and Kim LaCelle and their daughter, Melissa; Kristina and Mark LaCelle-Peterson and their children, Nathaniel and Linnea; Erik LaCelle and his son, Dieter - all of them very beloved; along with much loved cousins and their families; and many, many cherished friends. In lieu of flowers, the family is inviting folks to make memorial donations to www.careofcreation.net/give. A Zoom service is being planned for Sunday, October 4, 2020 at 3:00 p.m. Updated service information will be provided on the funeral home website when it becomes available. For service information and to leave a condolence, please visit www.holmeswatkins.com