Charlotte W. Lockwood

1936 - 2018

Charlotte W. Lockwood passed away peacefully at home on March 4, 2018. She was born on October 29, 1936 in Columbus, Indiana to Jason A. Williams and Nina Porterfield Williams. As a child she was active in 4H and won several prizes for clothing construction. After graduating from Central High School in Columbus, IN she enrolled at Purdue University where she majored in Home Economics. She was a member of Alpha Delta Pi Sorority and integrated the Purdue Orchestra playing first chair flute as part of the first class of women allowed to participate. Upon graduation, she returned to Columbus to teach junior high home economics. Ironically, she was hired by her future father-in-law, Luther Lockwood, who was the Superintendent of Schools at the time. Soon after she started dating her future husband Tom Lockwood. They were married in Columbus, IN in 1960 and enjoyed a happy relationship for over 57 years until he predeceased her last year. After a brief stint in Cookeville, Tennessee they settled in Charlotte to raise their family when Tom had the opportunity to purchase part of the Cummins distributorship for the Carolinas. She retired from teaching to raise her sons, who were the focus of her adult life along with her creative interests. She always had multiple needlepoint, sewing or crafts projects in the works. For many years she made all her own clothes and clothes for the boys. She organized a group of ladies interested in crafts that jokingly called themselves the Happy Hookers. Based on her educational background she was always interested in the science of nutrition and took classes in the Human Nutrition graduate school at Winthrop University. She was a longtime member of Providence United Methodist Church. In the late 1970s she helped organize the Ladies Circle to make needlepoint kneeling cushions for the front of the sanctuary. The project encompassed over 50 square feet of handcrafted needlepoint work by the Circle. A few years later she sewed together the finishing touches on two needlepoint tapestries the Circle made that hang in the front of the sanctuary. These works of art are still used today in the church sanctuary. Charlotte cherished spending time with her family. She was proud of her sons and loved spending time with her daughters-in-law and her grandchildren at family gatherings and Sunday brunch at Carmel Country Club. For the last twenty years of her life she experienced poor health that limited her activities outside the home. She is survived by her sons Luther A. Lockwood II (Jane) and Charles David Lockwood (Cindy) and five grandchildren Jane Bratton Lockwood, Luther A. Lockwood III (Luke), Thomas Charles Lockwood II, Grace Elizabeth Lockwood and William Thomas Lockwood, all of Charlotte; a nephew John F. Lockwood of Indianapolis and niece Jo Van Lockwood Shaw of Cincinnati.

A funeral will be held at Providence United Methodist Church at 2:00 pm on March 12, 2018. The family will receive friends in the church vestibule following the service. A private family burial will be held at Elmwood Cemetery. Memorial gifts can be made to the McColl-Lockwood Lab for Muscular Dystrophy Research at the Carolinas Healthcare Foundation (www.givecarolinas.org) or Providence United Methodist Church. The family would like to give special thanks to the loving caregivers, nurses and staff at Always Best Care of Charlotte for their service and support over the last several years.