Mr. Charles Garrison

GARRISON, Mr. Charles - Age 80, passed away Sunday, February 14, 2016 at Hurley Medical Center. Family hour 10:30 a.m. Saturday, February 27, 2016 from the Chapel of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home, 906 W. Flint Park Blvd., with funeral service commencing at 11 a.m. Pastor Andre Powell officiating. Family and friends will assemble at the funeral home 10:30 a.m. Saturday. Mr. Garrison will lie in state in the Chapel of Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home and may be viewed from 1 p.m. - 8 p.m. Friday. Mr. Charles (Haile Selassie) Garrison, Sr. was born on September 10, 1935 in Chicago Illinois, the son of Henrietta and John Garrison. A strong loving husband, father, Papa, brother, uncle and friend to many. Papa’s life was filled with many joys. He worked for the Railroad, and Chrysler for many years. He later ventured out into real estate appraising and was a truck driving instructor at Mott Community College where he used his gift to gab, meeting so many people that would become lifelong friends. In his later years he worked for the Sherriff’s department as a fraud investigator. His passion was quartet singing, in which he formed a group “The Gospel Supremes” and sang with the Late Sam Cooke and the Soul Stirrers. His hobbies were fishing and hunting, in which he spent weekends with his sons, grandsons and friends, catching dinner. He enjoyed this so much and would often go to Port Huron or Canada, to fish. He would head north to White Cloud Michigan, on the land he grew up on as a child, and hunt for deer. He always returned home with enough fish and venison to feed an army. Reflection Every Saturday morning, which was our Sabbath, we would rise as a family, with the 24th Psalms “The earth is the LORD's, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” After we read the entire Psalm, we would sing Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, and end with the Lord’s Prayer. Our Papa, would guide us thru Gods word, teaching us of his Love, Mercy and the kingdom prepared for all. At this tender times in our lives, as we were all so young, we didn’t understand the priceless gift he was giving us. We didn’t understand why the record player blasted with Sam Cooke, singing “Touch the Hem of His Garment” or the Gospel Soul Stirrers, “Feel like my time aint long”, but Papa knew what he was doing. He kept praising, praying, believing, and planting Gods seeds, spreading, watering them, on each and every one of us. We all grew into strong God fearing sons and daughter’s (Abraham Stars) with a solid foundation, rooted from the very beginning by our Papa. This is and was his greatest legacy…….Giving to others, showing others God, teaching others about God…No matter what time, day or night, if you needed him, he was there. When you entered his home, he fed you physically and spiritually, always with a smile, humor, love and a song. We will miss our Papa, however, Glory to God for allowing him to enter his peace. Our papa transitioned to the kingdom of God, touching the hem of his garment and was made whole. Absent from the Body, present with the Lord. He is preceded in death by his parents, John & Henrietta Garrison, son Haile S. Garrison Jr, daughter, Adale H. Garrison and granddaughter, Amber Hernandez. Genesis 15:5 “Then the Lord took Abraham outside and said to him, "Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That's how many descendants you will have!" Mr. Charles (Haile Selassie) Garrison, Sr. leaves to cherish his memory: wife, Hattie Garrison; 9 daughters, Vanessa Garrison, Mary Garrison, Sheryal Garrison, Billetta (Reggie) Lay, Tracy (Sam) Farah, Holly (Dwayne) Barfield, Tonyai Garrison and Shonda Blackwell; 2 sons, Gamal (Maia) Garrison and El Haile (Faith) Blackwell; 38 grandchildren; 31 great-grandchildren; 2 sisters, Martha Webb and Marrian (George) Barrera- Young; 2 brothers, John Shakir Garrison and David Garrison; sister-in-law, Geraldine Robinson; 2 brothers-in-law, Jacob (Delores) Robinson and Jessie Johnson; a host of nephews, nieces, cousins and friends.

Mr. Charles Garrison

September 10, 1935 - February 14, 2016