Charles Baxter Gordon Iii

Charles Baxter Gordon III, 87, of Huntersville passed away peacefully on Tuesday, October 15, 2024. He was born to Charles Baxter “C.B.” Gordon Jr. and Evelyn Ayers Gordon in Union County on January 8, 1937.

A funeral service will be held at 2:00 PM on Thursday, October 24, 2024, at St. John’s Baptist Church, 300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte, NC 28204, with a private family burial in Sharon Memorial Park. The family will receive friends following the service in the church.

A child of the ’40s, Charles loved nothing more as a young boy than to spend Saturdays at the Center Theater in downtown Monroe watching John Wayne, Randolph Scott, and Henry Fonda take aim at the bad guys and save the town. It fueled a love of dramatics that led him to direct and act in many community theater plays over the years. In high school, where he was president of the senior class and the student council and was voted “most athletic,” Charles also acted in school plays.

Charles played the big three sports growing up, but he found his true passion during the tennis boom of the ’70s. After spending four years in the Air Force and earning a pair of degrees at Appalachian State University, Charles moved back to his hometown. There, he became an eager club tennis player. Although he never quite topped the ladder at Beaver Dam Swim and Racquet Club, Charles forged a fulfilling side hustle out of what had quickly become his favorite sport. While teaching audiovisual arts at Garinger High School in the early ’80s, he began coaching the school’s boys’ tennis team, and he parlayed some success there into a gig coaching the first men’s tennis team at Queens University of Charlotte.

Charles built the program from scratch and led the Royals for two decades, coaching all-Americans and taking the team to the NCAA playoffs; in 2020, he was inducted into the Queens University Athletics Hall of Fame. He is still known to many affectionately as “Coach.” In his later years, if he wasn’t on the court himself or traveling to Europe, Australia or New York to complete the “Fan Slam,” he could be found in his easy chair, tuned into the Tennis Channel, an Appalachian State blanket draped over his legs.

Charles was preceded in death by his parents; his wife Barbara Dawn Poole Gordon; and a brother, Walter L. Gordon. He is survived by his devoted partner, Judy Roberson; a sister, Marilyn Griffin of Monroe; a brother, David Gordon (Linda) of Myrtle Beach, S.C.; daughters, Nicole Papciak of Charlotte and Tracy Gordon of Greensboro; son, Chuck Gordon and wife Katrina of Charlotte; and five grandchildren, Katherine Tripp (Hunter), Cal Papciak, Baylor Papciak, Bryson Gordon, and Alexandra Gordon. He is also survived by his former wife, Gerri Kessel, the mother of Tracy, Chuck and Nicole.

The family wishes to express gratitude for the care shown to Charles by the staff at The Haven in Huntersville and by VIA Hospice and Palliative Care.

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to St. John’s Baptist Church, 300 Hawthorne Lane, Charlotte, NC 28204 or the Queen's University of Charlotte tennis program, 1900 Selwyn Ave, Charlotte, NC 28274.

Online condolences may be made at www.gordonfuneralservice.com

Gordon Funeral Service and Crematory, 1904 Lancaster Ave, Monroe, NC 28112 is honored to be entrusted to care for the Gordon Family.