Charles Rice Jr

Charles Crowley Rice Jr. (104) passed away peacefully in his Virgina Highlands home on February 20th, 2025. He was the first born to Bessie Lee Payne and Charles Crowley Rice Sr. on September 16th, 1920. While growing up in the Techwood Homes community of Atlanta he attended Tech High School and played on the tennis team. Before he graduated, Charles would win four Scholastic State Championships, playing both singles and doubles, in 1938 and 1939. After attending Georgia Tech for a year he enlisted in the Army, serving his country during WWII as a member of the Signal Corps in the North African campaign. While overseas he played in the Allied Forces Exhibition Tennis Tournament in Algiers, Algeria reaching the finals against, at the time, the number one player from France, Bernard Destremau. Returning home after the war he was recruited by legendary Tennis Coach, John Kenfield, at the University of North Carolina. He attended UNC from 1946 to 1950, lettering all four years and earning both a BA and MA degree. It was there that he met and fell in love with graduate student Mary Jane Schumacher. The two married in 1948 and had two children, son Charles David and daughter Jane Kathern.

After leaving UNC he became a tennis pro at the Biltmore Country Club in Asheville, NC. He was then recruited as head tennis pro to the Middletown Tennis Center, in Middletown, Ohio, where the family settled down. He would later serve as the tennis pro at the historic Glendale Lyceum in Glendale, Ohio. In July of 1984, the Lyceum honored Charles by naming the "first court", The Charlie Rice Court. He taught Physical education for 25 years at Middletown High School until he retired. He moved back to Atlanta in 1984. Having been an outstanding athlete throughout his life, he remained active, dancing, fishing, and playing golf. His passion was always golf. He was very close to his two sisters and brother-in-law with whom he enjoyed traveling and vacationing. He enjoyed feeding the birds in his backyard, playing with his two cats, as well as enjoying his niece's chihuahuas when they came to visit. Later in life he faced many challenges with deteriorating eyesight, but never let it define him. He was one of the most positive people you would want to spend time with. He was a man of few words with a strong inner strength and mild personality. He got pleasure from life's simple things and loved to teach young people. These last few years he was so appreciative of his caregivers, TC S., Evelyn Davis, and Eunice Ajayi, who treated him like family.

He was preceded in death by his sisters, Mary Frances Rice and Betty Ann Tolbert, Betty's husband Ernest A. Tolbert Jr., and his son's wife Rita Prichard Rice. He is survived by his son, Charles David Rice; daughter, Jane Kathern Rice (James Horwitz); grandson, Charles Wade "Chad" Rice (Lexie); great granddaughter, Charlotte "Charlie" Rice; granddaughter, Carrie Anne Rice; niece, Lee Ann Tolbert-Sheets (George); and nephew, Alan Tolbert (Cherie).

The family invites you to celebrate Charles's wonderful life at 812 Adair Ave, NE, Atlanta on Sunday, March 16, from 2 pm to 6 pm. His daughter's contact email is rice_jk@hotmail.com.

In lieu of flowers please make a charitable donation to the Emory Eye Clinic, Prevent Blindness, or Atlanta First United Methodist Church.