Coach Charles Adams McCullough Sr.

Charles Adams McCullough Sr., who shaped the lives of countless young men as a coach and mentor, passed away August 4, 2017, after a long struggle with pulmonary fibrosis. He was 84, and across Charlotte and beyond, literally hundreds who played basketball for him at West Charlotte High School and elsewhere are recalling their beloved coach with sadness and yet gratitude for having known him. Coach McCullough was born and raised in Charlotte, son of John and Annie Mae McCullough. He graduated from West Charlotte High, where he lettered in four sports and set the Mecklenburg County high jump record that stood for many years. Shy by all accounts – and handsome as the girls would attest! – he’d get up at 3 a.m. to deliver milk, often using what he earned from odd jobs to buy toys for his younger siblings. After serving two years in the U.S. Army at Fort Benning, Ga., he attended N.C. Central University, where he played baseball and basketball and ran track and field before graduating in 1956. He excelled in the high jump, competing successfully on a national level. He and his first wife, Delauris were married in 1959 and raised three children. She survives. In 1960, he returned to his alma mater, West Charlotte High, and made an indelible mark as one of North Carolina’s most successful basketball coaches. Over 33 seasons, his Lions won some 600 games and five state championships. More than that, he helped mold his players into standup young men, and helped instill pride in the community that lived and died with West Charlotte High sports. After retiring from West Charlotte High, he coached for five seasons at Livingstone College in Salisbury,NC. After retiring from teaching and coaching, Coach McCullough and his second wife, Bertha, lived for 20 years in Bowie, Md. She passed in 2012. He came back home to Charlotte in late 2014. Soon after, he was diagnosed with the respiratory disease that took his life. Coach McCullough is survived by two children – Cynthia Delauris McCullough of Charlotte and Charles Adams McCullough Jr. of Winston-Salem; three siblings – Catherine M. Chapman of Charlotte, Robert L. McCullough and his, wife, Betty Jo, of Charlotte, and Richard McCullough and his wife, Alice, of Nashville, Tenn.; and two grandchildren – Nicole H. McNabb and her husband, Gregory, of Upper Marlboro, Md., and Symone A. Herring of Charlotte. He was preceded in death by his wife, Bertha; son Derrick Von McCullough, who lost his life in a car accident; and brother Johnny L. McCullough. The family is deeply grateful for family members and friends who offered so much love during Coach McCullough’s illness, including caregivers Gladys Bland and Saria Little. His beloved nephew, Ivan Chapman, served as his driver when he first fell ill. Coach McCullough lived a life to remember, and emulate. He doted on his family, rarely missing a child’s game or recital. He taught his kids how to play and enjoy sports of all kinds. He loved jazz, poetry, the classics and westerns. When he could no longer play golf, he loved watching it on TV. The day he died, The Observer asked several former West Charlotte High players to measure his impact in their lives. Jeff McInnis, who played for the West Charlotte Lions and UNC-Chapel Hill Tar Heels before a successful career in the NBA, put it best. “Feels like losin’ my own dad…He really taught me to be accountable on and off the court! He was a legend coach but a better man.

Coach Charles Adams McCullough Sr.

April 16, 1933 - August 4, 2017