Charles Cordell “Lucky” Jones
In Memoriam

Charles Cordell “Lucky” Jones

By Renea Pellegrino September 6, 2023 No Comments

Charles Cordell “Lucky” Jones

October 12, 1972 – November 27, 2008

Charles Cordell "Lucky" Jones

Charles Cordell “Lucky” Jones

“He was my best friend. He was nice and kind and always kept a smile on his face. He never changed. I love you, Charles,” Jacqueline Lacy wrote on December 5, 2008. Tina Owney wrote: “Charles was a wonderful, most loving and kind person that you would have wanted to know” and “Charles was truly a wonderful, most loving, and forgiving person. These posts, while short, paint a picture of a man who was loved by his family and friends.

Charles, who also went by the nickname “Lucky,” was born on October 12, 1972, to his mother, Sylvia Cains-Jones, and father, Charles Clark. He had six siblings: Michael, Gregory, Louis, Jacqueline, Zena, and Johnell. He attended Temple Preschool Math & Sciences as a child. He later attended school at McDonogh #35 Senior High School and Peabody Magnet High School in Alexandria, Louisiana. These are both charter schools that require students to have high enough test scores to attend. Based on this limited information from his obituary, Charles was very intelligent and talented. I was not able to get in touch with any of his family members, but it would have been nice to ask them what his favorite subjects in school were, what teachers and classes inspired him, what kind of hobbies he had, and what he wanted to be when he grew up.

It was clear from the obituary that he had a lot of friends from different jobs and areas of his life. The obituary invited all employees and patrons of several establishments including Windsor Court Hotel, Volunteers of America, Red Eye Grill Restaurant, Silky Lounge, and Touro Infirmary Hospital. Whether he worked at these places or was just a frequent patron is unclear. However, if he or his family knew the people there well enough to mention them in the obituary, it is obvious that he made a lasting impression. Charles and his family were also involved in the church. His family invited pastors, officers, and members from the Greater Galilee Baptist Church and the Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church to his funeral.

Charles was married to Julic’ Ramsey-Jones; their anniversary is on March 21st. I tried reaching out to her via Facebook messenger to see if she would be willing to do an interview. Ultimately, I was not able to reach her, but I could tell from her Facebook page that she loved her husband and loves her children. Julic’ and Charles had five children together: Charles, Sharlanda, Cordell, Courtney, and Charli. His youngest child, Charli, was approximately 6 years old when he passed away. Charles also had two stepchildren: DaLeisha Ramsey, and Robert (Gip) Harris.

Charles and Julic’ purchased a home together in New Orleans on June 12, 2008, just five months before his death in November of that year. Finding this out made his passing even more upsetting to me. I thought about my own parents and my childhood home. I thought about my goal to own a home one day and start a family. Charles had achieved all of those things right before his death. His obituary mentions a list of family members and friends. He was a son-in-law to James and Darylynn Ramsey. He was a Brother-in-law to Niketa Ramsey, Glendell Green, and Bre’Jan Ramsey. He was a Nephew to Dolores Perkins, Gwendolyn Dunbar, Zelda Cains, Vivian Johnson, Vernetta Clark, Lois Tumblin, Lottie Irving, Bobby Jean Smith, Calvin, Reggie, Vernon Cains, and Shelia Gibson. He had several good friends including Kevin (Wimp), Kenric (Lil), Derrick (Decky), Ronchell (Fat), and Nikkie (Sis).

His father-in-law, James Ramsey, officiated the funeral service. This further shows that Charles was loved not only by his birth family but also by his wife’s family. He is still loved and missed by his loved ones. As recently as 2015, people have posted on his obituary guestbook. Jazz and Teisha Mercadel both posted for his 43rd birthday on October 12, 2015. Other family members and friends posted on the guestbook for his birthday in 2011. People also posted Merry Christmas wishes in December of 2008. I could tell how loved Charles was by seeing that people still took the time to post on his obituary almost ten years later.

Charles’s obituary proved to be very helpful to my research. It gave me a lot of names of people to contact for an interview. Ultimately, I could only find a few people and they did not get back to me. The people that I wanted to talk to first were the ones who posted on his obituary in 2015 because I knew they were still thinking about Charles even though it has been several years since his passing.

Despite everything, I can tell that Charles was loved by his family and friends during his 36 years. One statement from the obituary guestbook sums this up perfectly: “Just remember Charles the way he was, a loving and caring person who will be greatly missed.” I thought this was a very powerful statement because it shows how valued Charles was to his family and how missed he still is today.

Author: Sarah Skidmore

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