On two occasions separated by over a decade, Charles Brooks provided funeral services for young Birmingham women whose lives were cut short by racially motivated violence.
Charles Brooks, a longtime Birmingham funeral director who handled services for young victims killed in two high-profile civil rights incidents in the city, died Saturday at UAB Hospital. He was 79. Arlillian Kate Bushelon, director and manager of Bushelon Funeral Home in the West End, where Brooks had worked since 1980, said he had been battling cancer for years.
“He made an impact on people at the lowest part of their life,” she said. “He’s been a pillar of strength in Birmingham and beyond.” Bushelon said Brooks was “like family,” and had mentored a generation in how to care for a deceased person’s grieving loved ones with dignity and grace. His mother, she said, was one of the first licensed Black women embalmers in Alabama, which she suspects is how Brooks came to have an affinity for funeral service. Charles Brooks handled the funerals for Bonita Carter and three of the four girls killed in the KKK bombing of 16th St. Baptist Church. A longtime director at Bushelon Funeral Home in Birmingham, Brooks died on Saturday, March 8, 2025.“No matter if you were big or small, you got the same great service from him,” she said. “He treated people how he wanted to be treated.” On two occasions separated by over a decade, Brooks provided funeral services for young Birmingham women whose lives were cut short by racially motivated violence. Brooks spoke, an innocent Black woman shot by a white police officer; and Sept. 20, 1963, when he buried Addie Mae Collins, Carol Denise McNair, and Cynthia Wesley, killed in the Klan bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church.If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation.and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our
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