Charles C. Mitchell

Dr. Charles C. Mitchell, of Greenville passed away at Cypress Glenn Retirement Community on Thursday, Oct. 31, 2013. A visitation will be held at Wilkerson Funeral Home, 2100 E. 5th St., Greenville on Saturday Nov. 9, 2013 from 2 – 4 p.m. There will be a reception for friends and family from 4 – 6 p.m. at Rep Express, 806 Red Banks Rd.
"Charlie" was born August 24, 1925, in New York City to Abraham and Sarah Mitchell. Dr. Mitchell was a January 1942 graduate of the City of New York High School of Science and attended one year at City College of New York. He then transferred to North Carolina State University in Raleigh graduating in 1944. He met Lucille Margaret Montague while attending graduate school, also at N.C. State, and they married in 1948. He earned a masters' degree at NC State in Textile Engineering and another Masters degree at Georgia State University in Atlanta in 1957. The family moved to Knoxville, Tenn. in 1957 where he received a Ph.D. in Psychology in 1963. The family then moved to Richmond, Virginia where Dr. Mitchell did postdoctoral work at Richmond Professional Institute which is today part of Virginia Commonwealth University. The family then moved to Greenville in 1965 where he started as an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department at East Carolina College. Dr. Mitchell went on to become a full professor and served for many years as the chairman of the Psychology Department at East Carolina University. He worked part-time for 26 years from 1967 to 1993 at the Wayne County Mental Health Center. And he served twice as the interim director and a board member of the Pitt County Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Substance Abuse Center. He also served for a time as president of the Pitt County Mental Health Association. In 1993 he was awarded the Order of the Longleaf Pine by Governor James B. Hunt Jr.
He was an avid reader of mysteries and a compulsive golfer. He was a charter member and resident of Brook Valley Country Club where he remained a member for over 40 years and where he played innumerable rounds of golf scoring several holes-in-one. He was always ready with a story about friends and family and he was a staunch proponent of NC mental health facilities. After his wife Lucille was admitted to Spring Arbor in 2005, he devotedly visited her every evening for over four years and then several nights a week for the last several years of her life. For the last three years he has been a resident of Cypress Glen Retirement Community in Greenville where he already knew many residents and made quite a few new friends.
Charlie was predeceased by his wife of 63 years Lucille Montague Mitchell. The Mitchell family would like to extend their thanks to the entire Montague family for all of your love and support over the years. The Montague siblings were AJ, Jr., Bert, Billy, Bobby, Jack, Joe, Pete, Lena, Lucille, and Wilson.
Dr. Mitchell is survived by four sons and a daughter, Geoffrey Mitchell and wife, Clair, of Orange, Calif.., Steven Mitchell and wife, Ying, and their children Kendra and Alanna of Palo Alto, Calif., David Mitchell and wife, Kathy Mitchell, and their children, Patrick and Danielle of Greenville, Katherine Clemmons and her children Brittney and Dylan of Greenville, and Brian Mitchell and wife, Andrea, and their children Anna and Olivia of Wilmington.
The family would like to thank Community Home Care and Hospice for everything they did to keep Charlie comfortable during his decline. Memorial contributions may be made to either the Cypress Glen Benevolent Care Foundation, 100 Hickory St., Greenville, NC 27858 or The March of Dimes, 1275 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, NY 10605 which provided care and assistance with Lucille's polio in the mid-1950s.
On-line condolences at www.wilkersonfuneralhome.com.