Charles T. Williams Sr., God's happy man

CHARLES THOMAS Williams Sr. was the kind of person who made everyone feel good.

"You could be sad or in a bad mood, but after you were with him for a while, you'd be smiling and laughing," said his cousin, Lumpkin Williams. "He could light up a room."

C.T., as he was known, was a happy man. God's happy man, one might say. It was faith and his lifelong mission to spread that faith that had him in a perpetual state of rejoicing.

Charles T. Williams, a longtime leader in the United House of Prayer for All People, a musician and singer who used his talents in praise, and a pastor and evangelist, died April 6. He was 74 and lived in Germantown.

He also was a golf pro and sold quality hats for a time.

The United House of Prayer for All People was a family tradition. C.T.'s grandfather, Isaac Williams, was an apostle under the organization's founder, Charles Manuel "Sweet Daddy" Grace.

The tradition was carried on by C.T.'s father, Cheeseborough Williams, and passed on to him. Charles was a founder of the United House of Prayer, in Germantown, where his rich voice rang out the old-time gospel songs while the musicians he gathered in the church played a kind of jazz-gospel.

"It was a souped-up Bobby Jones gospel," said his son Solomon Williams, referring to the well-known gospel singer.

Solomon and his brother, Charles T. Jr., performed with their father.

"He was an outstanding, all-around person," Lumpkin Williams said. "He had a beautiful singing voice. Oh, man, could he sing!"

Charles never had an inclination to take his musical talents outside the House of Prayer. He felt that he was given those gifts for a higher purpose.

However, he was acquainted with many musicians and celebrities. When singer Teddy Pendergrass had his crippling accident on Lincoln Drive in 1982, Charles was one of the first at his hospital bedside.

He also became acquainted with Malcolm X in New York.

Charles played the guitar, trombone, trumpet and the drums, sending up a joyful noise. After his wife of 35 years, the former Evelyn McLaughlin, died in 2000, he became a national evangelist, traveling the country to look after the numerous Houses of Prayer that had sprung up over the 80 some years since the organization was founded by "Sweet Daddy" Grace.

Grace often brought his ministry to Philadelphia, where it attracted attention by baptizing masses of disciples with fire hoses.

Charles was born in Greenville, N.C., to Cheeseborough Williams and the former Loree Fisher. One of his first jobs was as a caddy on a course in Greenville where his father was a caddy.

He was a golf pro at the Freeway Golf Course, in Sicklerville, N.J.

He came to Philadelphia in the 1960s. His first pastorate was at a House of Prayer in Hollis, on Long Island, in New York. His son remembers traveling there in a "long trailer."

Solomon Williams said that his father could "brighten up any circumstance." He had a contagious smile and earned the nickname: "Smiley."

"He was really blessed with the Word and could break it down for people who had difficulty understanding it," Solomon said. "He was always ready to teach others."

Besides his two sons, he is survived by four sisters - Martha Minson, Gracelle Williams, Dessie Rubin and Doris Jenkins - and two brothers, Joe and Johnnie Williams.

Services: 8 tonight at United House of Prayer for All People, 742 S. 16th St. Friends may call at 6 p.m. Burial will be in Mount Peace Cemetery, 31st Street and Lehigh Avenue, North Philadelphia.