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Remembering Gospel Composer, Choir Leader Michael Charles

Photo courtesy of Samuel Jordon II, Royal Photography, LLC.
Photo courtesy of Samuel Jordon II, Royal Photography, LLC.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – This month, Kansas City said goodbye to a local leader in gospel music and education. Michael Charles passed away suddenly on March 9, 2011 at the age of 64, of liver cancer. 

Throughout his career, Michael Charles performed around the country with gospel greats such as James Cleveland, Richard Smallwood and the Mighty Clouds of Joy. He worked in the Kansas City Missouri school district, and served as minister of music at Saint James United Methodist Church for 23 years.

KCUR's Susan Wilson occasionally sang with Michael Charles there. She attended his memorial service last week and brought back this remembrance.

This story was produced for KC Currents. To listen on your own schedule, subscribe to the KC Currents Podcast.

A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Susan admits that her “first love” was radio, being an avid listener since childhood. However, she spent much of her career in mental health, healthcare administration, and sports psychology (Susan holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and an MBA from the Bloch School of Business at UMKC.) In the meantime, Wilson satisfied her journalistic cravings by doing public speaking, providing “expert” interviews for local television, and being a guest commentator/contributor to KPRS’s morning drive time show and the teen talk show “Generation Rap.”
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