Charles J. Atkins, 92, died Saturday October 22, 2022 in his home. He was born March 26, 1930 in Wake County, a son of the late Arthur Rowland Atkins and Swannie (Williams) Atkins.

Along with his parents, he was predeceased by his brothers: Lealond Atkins  and J. Lee Atkins.

Charles is survived by his loving wife and best friend of 62 years, Brenda Keith Atkins, his six children: Donnie Atkins and his wife June, Debbie Bynum, Greg Atkins and his friend Candi, Randy Atkins and his friend Julee, Kathy Gault and Robbie Atkins and his wife Crystal; 11 grandchildren and 16 great-grandchildren, that all called him Papa.

Charles is a graduate of Garner H.S., and the FBI Academy. He also took several classes at N.C. State. Later on he decided to fight boredom and he took several different programs at Wake Tech, such as  Real Estate classes allowing him to become a broker, as well as Welding classes to become a certified Welder and Automotive HVAC classes to become a certified auto HVAC tech.

Charles retired from the Raleigh Police department as a Captain after 30 years in 1978. This allowed him to focus on his small business that he and Brenda had started to help support his kids. They started out with a ceramic business out of the home that grew to the point that they needed to expand where they purchased a small worn out building on South Saunders street. This business led them to expand into selling polyester fabrics and patterns for people to make their own clothes, this led to them selling sewing machines to make those clothes that naturally evolved into selling TV's and Appliances and then Atkins TV and Appliance was born. They eventually expanded to two locations, with the second location being in Garner NC. Over the years Charles ventured into several different businesses and hobbies, which were all successful.

He lived his life as independently as possible. There was almost nothing he couldn't do. Over the years he was a farmer, he was a home builder, he was a policeman, he could lay brick and block, he could wire a home, he could weld, he could rebuild engines. Those that knew him would routinely come to him for help doing things around the house or with their car or truck. He could do it all, and did it all well. Charles spent his entire adulthood looking after his 6 kids. He was someone that any one of his kids could call on if they needed anything. No matter how busy he was, he would never miss a ballgame, or dance recital, or motorcycle race. Him and Brenda could always be counted on to cheer on their kids. Later his passion turned to coaching as he took on the task of teaching Football to mostly At-Risk kids in South Raleigh. He would teach these kids not only how to play the game, but also about how to succeed in life, and through the years many kids would come back to see him and tell him how much they appreciated what he taught them. The Carolina Pines Steelers eventually became a force in the Raleigh

Little League Football scene where they routinely would end up in the city "super bowl" winning several of them. After his years of coaching little league football, he was starting to become a Grandfather, and from this point on he was mostly known as Papa. He loved that name more than anything else he was referred to over the years and right up until his passing, even the family dog knew him as Papa.

The family will receive friends from 10- 11 am on Thursday, October 27, 2022 at Montlawn Funeral Home 2911 S. Wilmington St. Raleigh, where a funeral will begin in the funeral home chapel at 11 am. Entombment will follow at Montlawn Memorial Park. There will be a celebration of life following the service at the family home on Fanny Brown Rd.