Charles Gene “Chuck” Cornelison

Rest in Peace

1971.04.14 – 2023.05.05

In the early evening on May 5^th, 2023, we received a frantic call from our dear friend, Amy. Audra answered the phone, and I could hear something was very wrong. All I could her was “We LOST CHUCK!” Audra put her on speaker phone, and we listened in shock as she told us what happened to cause this tragedy.

Chuck was on an annual bike ride with Chet, his twin brother, and several colleagues. They were all riding their motorcycles and had stopped for lunch. After lunch, they got on their bikes and started out for the next leg before stopping for the night. Chuck was the last to get ready to pull out. After a short time, they noticed that Chuck was not with them, so a couple of the guys turned around to go see where he was. His bike was down, and he was in bad shape. After medical professionals worked on him at the scene, they transported him to the hospital in West Plains, Missouri where he was pronounced dead. This was a devastating day!

I met Chuck and his twin brother Chet in the first grade at Mark Twain Elementary School in our hometown of Lebanon, Missouri. We were friends throughout all of school. After graduation, we went our different ways. It wasn’t until about fifteen years ago that we reconnected at a high school class reunion. Our friendship was even more solid that it was when we were kids.

Chuck and his beautiful wife, MaryAnn, lived in Oklahoma City. We didn’t let distance keep us from have a great time. Our wives had never known each other but they became great friends instantly. We spent a lot of time together on different adventures, but the thing we did most often was concerts. We would meet, all over Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri for concert weekends.

One weekend trip to OKC, we were at Lake Hefner for dinner. After we ate, we were walking around the lake on the paved trail. Chuck asked me to take a photo of him and MaryAnn with the lake as the backdrop. This photo would become an iconic photo of Chuck. He was wearing a t-shirt from a non-profit organization that he supported, NeverThirst. The t-shirt said, “Every Story Matters.”

This shirt embodied who Chuck was. He was one of the most caring and compassionate people I have known. Often when we were traveling, he would talk to people on the street who crossed our path. Not just to give them a hand-out, but to hear their personal story.

Scott Dibben, Shayne Shirey, and I came up with the idea to help preserve Chuck’s legacy. We partnered with NeverThirst to recreate this shirt that he was wearing. We modified the shirt by adding a graphic on the sleeve. It was Chucks signature. When he signed his name, he would always add a smiley face. NeverThirst agreed to have his signature added. This became “The Chuck Shirt.” We worked with NeverThirst to sell a whole bunch of them with all the proceeds going to a project of their choice. They chose a well project in Cambodia. The proceeds from The Chuck Shirt helped dig a well for clean water for a beautiful community in Cambodia. It always brought the Gospel of Jesus, which was very important to Chuck, to that community was well.

Our last trip we took together was a friends group trip to Ft Worth for their birthday. Chet and Amy, Chuck and MaryAnn, Shayne and Tina, Scott and Ellen, Johnnie, Leonard and Jennifer, Audra and me all met in OKC on a Friday to catch the AmTrak to Ft Worth for the weekend. We had a blast! Little did we know this would be the last time we would get to hang out with our friend Chuck.

Until we meet again, my friend…