Charles Henry McDuffie

Charles Henry McDuffie

November 27, 1947-August 14, 2020

Dr. Charles Henry McDuffie, 72, of Sautee Nacoochee, Georgia passed away on Friday, August 14, 2020 at Emory Hospital in Atlanta. 

Dr. McDuffie was born on November 27, 1947 in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of the late Lillian Harris McDuffie and Rufus Henry McDuffie.  He was raised in Preston, GA and attended the University of Georgia earning a Bachelor of Pharmacy degree in 1970.  Over the next thirty years, he owned and operated independent drug stores in Montezuma, GA and served as Director of Pharmacy at Sumter Regional Hospital in Americus, GA.  He returned to the University of Georgia in his 50s completing the PharmD degree in 2001.  Following the completion of his doctorate, he joined the faculty of the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy.  He officially retired from the University in 2013 although he continued to contribute to the work of the College of Pharmacy for years afterward. He was a two-time recipient of the UGA College of Pharmacy’s prestigious Robert C. Wilson award, and in 2015, he was awarded the Service to the Society Award for lifetime achievement in the field of hospital pharmacy by the Georgia Society of Health-System Pharmacists. 

Through the decades, he gave selflessly of his talents of which there were many.  A gifted teacher, he taught youth Sunday School for nearly 50 years at the First Baptist Church in Montezuma, GA and the First Baptist Church in Cleveland, GA, congregations in which he also served as an ordained deacon.  His lessons drew a wide following and frequently featured a science experiment to convey the Gospel message, a practice that combined his love of scientific knowledge and religious faith.   He mentored countless individuals through his life example, work in the church, and his chosen field of pharmacy.  When this is combined with the number of lives that he touched and improved through his innovative contributions to the field of pharmacy, his positive influence on the world in which we all live is truly immeasurable. 

Throughout his life, he was unconditionally devoted to his family and his community and unwaveringly demonstrated a respect for the value and dignity of everyone with whom he came in contact regardless of background, education level, or socioeconomic status.  He had a particular talent for noticing young people who have that rare combination of potential and work ethic, and for encouraging and nurturing this talent so that it would flourish.  While he never sought any credit for the significant impact he had in the lives of those he touched, those who had the privilege of being influenced by his life are all deeply grateful. His wise and graceful presence will be irreplaceable, but he leaves an example and a legacy that will remain long beyond his death.  Though he leaves us too soon, the world is a much better place for having had him in it.  Perhaps the following words from the Gospel of Matthew have never been truer of anyone:  “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

He was preceded in death by his parents, Lillian and R. H. McDuffie, and his brother John McDuffie. He is survived by his wife Pat McDuffie, his sister Helen Nix and her husband Ronnie, his mother-in-law Jimmie Brown, his brother- and sister-in-law Ed and Laurie Walton, his sister-in-law Martha McDuffie, his sons and daughters-in-law Matt and Linda McDuffie and David and Jennie McDuffie, and his grandchildren Alec, Lucy Mae, Aidan, Bea, Callum, and Isla McDuffie.

A private graveside service will be held at Yonah View Memorial Gardens in Cleveland, GA on Monday, August 17.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you make a donation to the Leukemia Research Foundation (https://allbloodcancers.org/donate/).

To share a memory or leave a condolence with the family, visit barrettfh.com.

Barrett Funeral Home, Cleveland.