Honoring the Life and Legacy of Charlotte Berry, A Beloved Friend of United Way

On Friday, November 7th, United Way of the Midlands lost one of the best friends it’s ever had. We are saddened to share Charlotte Berry passed away peacefully at her daughter’s home in Asheville at 94 years old.  

Our community owes so much of where we are today to Charlotte’s foundational work. She established our Alexis de Tocqueville Society in 1994, the first time UWM had a focus on major giving. In 1995, while serving as campaign chair, Charlotte gathered 15 of her like-minded friends in her living room and started Women in Philanthropy, still going strong today. 

In 1997 she became the first female board chair of United Way of the Midlands, and in recognition of all she did for us and this community, Charlotte was named United Way of the Midlands’ Humanitarian of the Year in 2002.  

Those are just a handful of her accomplishments at United Way of the Midlands here in Columbia. And what’s even more remarkable is that Charlotte had similar impacts at other local United Ways and other organizations, and in other communities like Asheville and Memphis. She served on the national boards of United Way of America and the American Red Cross. She traveled the world and dedicated her life to serving as many people in as many ways as she could. 

Charlotte learned from an early age about the importance of giving back from the example set by her father.  

“He truly, truly lived his 99 years serving other people,” Charlotte recalled in a 2022 conversation at United Way of the Midlands. 

Somewhere around the age of 8 to 10 years old, Charlotte remembered getting together seven or eight of her friends to put on a performance for the neighborhood—dancing and singing for donations. Together, they raised $15 for the Milk Fund in Memphis. 

“The Milk Fund wrote this up in the newspaper as being one of the greatest opportunities for children to give to other people. So, of course, we felt very happy about that,” Charlotte said. “When I think back on it, it was fun. I can still see that backyard and I can still see the pet dog running around with us.” 

After that, Charlotte dedicated the rest of her life to serving others. 

“I love getting other people together and helping them to understand the feelings you get when you give to somebody else, no matter what it is you’re giving—your time is important, too,” she said. 

Through it all, Charlotte remained humble, warm and down to earth. When asked, “Who is the most interesting person you had ever met?” Charlotte thought about it. The list includes people like Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Bill Gates, Elizabeth Dole, and other dignitaries and heads of state. 

But one person stood out. 

When Charlotte was serving as a volunteer with the American Red Cross, she had taken a trip to South Korea and visited the DMZ. 

“I was sitting in the DMZ with some other Red Cross people and the North Koreans stood above us with guns, and I met one of them later—one of the men who was standing there with a gun over our heads,” she said. “He didn’t speak [English] too well, but he said that he had grown up with a hard life and that he didn’t always understand what was going on with the differences between South and North Korea. And that he would love to get to a situation where he could do something positive.” 

That story is an amazing example of people from entirely different backgrounds coming together, communicating with one another, and creating something positive as a result.  

The idea of United Way is that, even though we have our differences, we have much more in common. And when we come together, to work together, we can achieve more than we can alone. 

Charlotte Berry was a living example of that idea. At United Way of the Midlands, we are grateful to have been a small part of her story.