Brannon, retired Central director of missions, dies

Charles (Charlie) Robert Brannon, retired director of missions for Central Association of Southern Baptists, died Sept. 1. He was 85.

Brannon graduated from Mississippi State College with a bachelor of science in accounting in 1953.

He joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in El Paso, Texas, where he met and married Helen Smart. He received master of divinity and religious education degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, where he ministered in local churches.

Prior to moving to Arizona to become minister of education at Royal Palms Baptist Church in Phoenix, he served at churches in Alamogordo, N.M. (where he was ordained); Jackson, Miss.; and Dumas and Odessa, Texas.

In 1972, Brannon joined the staff of Central Association of Southern Baptists in Phoenix as education director, and later, he became director of missions, a role he held until he retired. He pursued a doctor of ministry degree from Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.

Brannon led Christian self-esteem seminars in Phoenix; Honolulu; Bangkok, Thailand; and Auckland, New Zealand.

Helen died on a mission trip with Charlie in 1996. Later that year, he married Nan Robbins, a childhood friend.

Brannon is survived by his wife, Nan; brother Jimmy; sister Marsha; daughters Pam and Patti, son Bobby and their spouses; seven grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; along with Nan’s three children and their spouses, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.