The Hong Kong Walk to Emmaus Community mourns the passing of our beloved brother in Christ, friend, and confidant, Charles Lee Schmitt, who died at North Lantau Hospital on Thursday, March 4th due to complications of a Chordoma Tumor.
Born April 19, 1945, at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Hospital in Kittery, Maine, USA, curly-haired ‘Smitty’ enjoyed life as an only child and was not impressed to learn his little brother had been born. The disgruntled four-year-old’s efforts to run away were thwarted by the fact that he wasn’t allowed to cross the street by himself, so he came home, and within weeks, Howie became the first of Charles’ many close friends.
After graduating from Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Missouri, Smitty became Chuck and earned a BA in English from the University of Missouri. He loved books and art, and almost pursued a career in art history, however Chuck headed to Georgetown, in Washington DC, for an MSc in Economics. He received his last degree, an MBA in Finance from New York University, while working full time on Wall Street. Thankfully, all that academia was balanced with great times with friends.
His friend, Ted, recalls:
Chuck was more than a social guy. He had an instinct for hospitality that put people at ease, inspired adventures, and energized lethargic weekend afternoons. And everyone was welcome.
Chuck loved throwing dinner parties, wending his way through art museums, attending orchestral recitals, and plotting pranks. His blind date advertisement that went entertainingly amiss stands out as one of his best efforts. His friends, aware of Charles’ red and green colour-blindness, were quick to exact revenge.
Albert N remembers….
Chuck’s youthful friends delighted in switching around his color-coded socks and neckties.
According to son Nicholas, Charles considered marrying Bronwyn Alexander one of the greatest achievements of his life.
He was right.
In 1989, the two wed and moved to Manila, The Philippines, for Bronwyn’s work. With his new, mature married man status, Chuck became Charles. The couple relocated to Hong Kong in 1990, where Charles worked as a senior consultant for a capital market consultancy. They lived on Lower Kennedy Road, and started attending a nearby church. Despite being a two-minute walk from church, the twosome were typically 10 minutes late each Sunday, but they loved their new church family and Union Church loved them in return. And it still does.
In 1993, when now 28-year-old Nicholas was one year old, the family relocated to Discovery Bay. Often called Delivery Bay, Drew, who is now 26 and 23-year-old Mariel joined the family shortly after. Charles dedicated the next years to his company, CSAL, during the day, and evenings and weekends to running the BBQ, playing hide and seek with the kids when he got home from work, attending DB Dragons soccer tournaments, reading in ‘his’; chair, playing (and watching) tennis with the kids, and being the ones the kids would go to for something when they knew that mom would say ‘no’. Charles also developed a diverse repertoire of ways to embarrass the kids – cheesy dad jokes and “weird 70’s dances” topping the list.
In 2006, Charles was found guilty of false accounting. He served several years in prison in Hong Kong. While it was a painful time, it was in fact, a period of remorse, repentance and restoration through the love of community in Hong Kong and family and friends abroad. Charles corresponded with many during this time and all recall his beautiful handwriting and way with words.
His children remember his joy at seeing them when they would come to visit. He helped his fellow inmates by sharing his food, writing letters to their families, or helping draft their legal documents. He also led Bible studies and became a remote learner with the University of London. Friends kept him exceptionally well-stocked in excellent books. It was during these years that Charles came to believe that ‘we’re all imprisoned by something’.
In a talk, Charles shared:
In prison I had no worldly or financial resources, but God showed me that this was an opportunity to draw closer to Him. I discovered the emptier that I was, and I was very empty, the more God could fill me with His grace and Holy Spirit. I began to understand the meaning of the Bible verse which is now my favourite: In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Jesus tells Paul and us, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Charles went on to speak this powerful message to the church youth group, in testimonies, at men’s lunches and in daily conversations for the remainder of his life.
Oldest son Nicholas states:
Dad knew what mattered in life — God, his family, his church, social justice, and his own peace — and he pursued these ends with calm conviction.
After his release, Charles allowed the caring and generous part of his character to guide his life, being an active part of many social justice and caring organisations: at Union Church he was part of the prison ministry team, and the Families in Need committee and represented Union at the city-wide Refugee Ministry Group. Charles was also a long term, faithful member of the Walk to Emmaus Community. At his Monday morning group, Charles showed his deepening faith and shared both his joys and his challenges and provided inspirational support to the other members of the group.
Andy, a fellow member and a very close friend of Charles’ recalls:
Charles was always ready to listen – his gentle and calm support for his fellow group members was an inspiration to all of us and his wry humour was always present even in the most trying circumstances. Ever the teacher at heart he never did get me to understand American Football .
As a tutor, students and adults alike were blessed by Charles’ quick mind, insights, diligence and desire to listen and help. Charles was a man who never judged books by the cover. He knew there can be so much depth beyond the first impressions. The outward appearance may be introspective and seemingly not ‘powerful’, but Charles would listen and wait for the story. He was a man who had time for everyone.
Charles is survived by his family – wife Bronwyn, children Nicholas and his partner Kate, Drew and his partner Ariana, and Mariel and her partner Sammy, Charles’ brother Howard and Howard’s wife Diana. Mia the cat also deserves mention for the hours she spent observing and purring in the sunlight while Charles tutored students online.
Charles is also considered family by many friends and organisations that love and will mourn their dear friend and advocate deeply.
To close, some final words from Charles:
God has used even a sinner like me to show how He can turn a bad situation into good, and how He has helped me pass on His love and the grace I’ve received to others.
God did turn that bad situation into good and so did Charles. His love and ability to look beyond the cover was an example to us all. Charles, you will be dearly missed and always remembered.
