Dr. Charles Henry Harrison

Charles Henry Harrison, MD was born on January 26, 1927 in Woodville, Virginia to James Hugh and Mandy Harrison. After completing Scrabble Elementary Charles attended the Manassas Industrial School in Manassas, Virginia. It was the regional high school for African-American children in northern Virginia and a boarding school for African-American children from areas outside of Northern Virginia. He graduated as Valedictorian of his class May 1945 with a straight “A” average. Charles was drafted into the army in October, 1945 and served in the Occupational forces in Germany and Austria. He was assigned to a Combat Engineer Battalion reaching the rank of corporal. Upon his discharge from the army, Charles enrolled in Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Hampton, Virginia where he majored in chemistry, with minors in mathematics and biology. He joined the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. and was a member of Alpha Kappa Mu Honor Society, Beta Kappa Chi Honorary Scientific Society and Scabbard and Blade. During his senior year he was the cadet commander of the R.O.T.C Regiment with the rank of cadet colonel. He graduated from Hampton University in 1951 with highest honors and ranked number two in his graduating class. After graduating from Hampton University Charles accepted a commission in the army as an artillery officer with the rank of 2nd Lieutenant. He served in combat in the Korean war and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal. After serving in the army for three years he resigned with the rank of 1st Lieutenant and enrolled in the Howard University College of Medicine. After completing his residency in Internal Medicine at Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, DC he moved to Toledo, Ohio. It was here where he met and married his soulmate Mildred F. Collins of Columbus, Ohio and practiced Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine for many years. He retired from the practice of medicine in 1996 and devoted his leisure time to writing poetry, learning foreign languages and writing his autobiography. His book of poems titled “Poems of Life” published in 2008 reflect joy, sadness, religion, death and sorrow, the beauty of nature, and brotherly love. Charles and Mildred loved to travel and they traveled extensively throughout the United States. He was an ordained elder and deacon in the Presbyterian Church, U.S.A. a mentor to many, a loving husband and an amazing uncle and a kind friend. He is preceded in death by parents James and Mandy Harrison, his sister Annie Virginia Rainey, and brother James Hugh Harrison. He is survived by his loving wife of 61 years, Mildred Collins Harrison, brother George Robert Harrison of Arlington, Virginia and a host of loving relatives and dear friends. Charles was a man of God who never wavered in his faith or commitment to the well-being of others. Friends and family will be received Saturday, August 14, 2021, from 9:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. at Christ Presbyterian Church, 4225 W. Sylvania Ave., Toledo, Ohio 43623 where a funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow in Ottawa Hills Memorial Park. Condolences may be made online to the family at www.walkerfuneralhomes.com If you live a good life, your footprints won’t be hard to find. The footprints that you leave will be the invisible kind. They won’t be found in shifting sand or sticky clay. They will be imprinted on the minds of others and never fade away. From “Poems of Life” By Charles Henry Harrison