Charles "Charlie" Ramos, 67, of El Rio, California, passed peacefully with family by his side on Monday, September 17, 2018, at St. Johns Hospital after complications from a stroke. Charlie was born July 14, 1951 to David and Alice Ramos.

At an early age, Charlie began building his personal collection of marbles and at the age of nine, he became the marble champion of his school in San Jose, CA. Eventually he leveraged this skill and struck a deal with the neighborhood boy, trading a prized steely marble for his dog. Charlie was also a talented baseball player and continued playing from his childhood throughout high school.

There is no one that could ever deny that Charlie was a hard worker. At the age of nine he began working with his brothers in order to earn extra money. Charlie and his brothers, David, Danny and Freddy, would look for recyclables to redeem at the corner market. The owner knew and adored young Charlie. Knowing that he didn’t have money, he would allow him to take the already redeemed pop bottles from the storage area and exchange them for candy. A couple of times the owner even accepted Charlie’s rock collections for trade.

Charlie attended El Rio Elementary School District and graduated from Oxnard High School at 17. Immediately after he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he went through boot camp in Fort Ord, CA. He then graduated from Army Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia in November 1969. Following this he was stationed in Korea and served as a Powerman and Generator Repairman. Soon after coming home from the service, Charlie gave his life to the Lord.

While serving his country overseas, Charlie discovered a passion for poetry. He expressed his personal experiences through his art and throughout the course of his life he composed over 150 poems. He continued his artistic work during the 15 years he spent in Hawaii. During his stay on the Islands he spent much of his time ministering to the homeless.

Charlie is preceded in death by his father, David C. Ramos and brother, David P. Ramos.

Charlie is survived by his mother, Alice; brothers, Danny, and Fred (MaryAnn); and sisters, Liz (Donald), Betty (Bobby), and Sandie (Ray).

The family would like to thank Ryan and the supporting staff from St. Johns Hospital for their attentive care; as well as, Pastor Larry and the South Coast Fellowship family for their prayers and support.