Charlotte Crosswy Lake

Born on Columbus Day, October 12, 1947, in Paris, Tennessee, Charlotte Crosswy Owens Lake died in the early morning of March 12, 2017, in a hospital in Glendale, Arizona, from terminal cancer.  She was 69 years old.  She had bravely suffered from Multiple Sclerosis for many years, still able to walk after more than 20 years because of her fierce determination.  At the time she was hospitalized neither she nor her family was aware that she had cancer.

She was surrounded by her husband Glen Lake and two of his three sons.   Thomas Lake and his wife Sonya and Robert Lake and his wife Irene, who lived nearby, cared for Charlotte with great love and devotion.  Another step-son James Lake and his wife Jennifer who live in California, have also been very gracious to Charlotte.  She wanted all of the grandchildren to call her Mama “C”, a name which she and her sister in another time had used to refer to their Grandmother Crosswy.

During her final days she was also surrounded by her sister Jayne Ann Owens Woods and her two nieces, Ashley Bryant Woods and Grayson Woods Brown, all of whom live in Nashville, Tennessee.

Charlotte graduated from Atkins-Porter School and E.W. Grove, Junior and Senior High Schools where she became a student of “Miss Ruby Krider”, a nationally known teacher of speech and drama.  There she discovered her skills in the dramatic arts.  She attended many speech tournaments including the statewide National Forensic League tournament every year in the field of Dramatic Interpretation.  As a senior, she went to the national finals and won the National Championship.  She attended Southern Illinois University which had a remarkable program in theatre, and majored in Communications.  There she appeared as the lead character in a number of theatre productions.

Following graduation in the spring of 1969 she flew to New York, moved into the Barbizon Hotel for Women and began to pursue a career in acting.  She worked as an actor and major commercial advertising model for 10 years.  One of the highlights of her career was being a part of the cast in a Pearl Bailey production which starred Pearl Bailey and traveled the United States.

Then, she pursued a career with ITT on Wall Street where she won national sales awards year after year and met her future husband.

Charlotte was the daughter of Martha Crosswy Owens and Vernon Bryant Owens, the granddaughter of Bertha Robbins Crosswy and John Anderson Crosswy and Beulah Williams Owens and D. B. Owens, all of Paris, Tennessee, and all of whom predeceased her.

She is survived by her husband Glen Lake, her sister, two nieces, three step-sons, and several wonderful cousins and her favorite great aunt Minnie Bess Williams.

Visitation with the family will be at Ridgeway Funeral Home on Sunday, March 19 from 1:00 PM until 3:00 PM and there will be a 3:00 PM graveside service at Maplewood Cemetery with Dr. Trent Bullock of First Baptist Church officiating.

In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to First Baptist Church of Paris or the charity of your choice or the Multiple Sclerosis Society.