11 comments

• Comment Link Tuesday, 10 December 2024 05:52 posted by Bo Fleming

  This is a complete shock! All i can think to say is that I will miss you, my friend and classmate. I enjoyed all the times we had. I wish I'd paid more attention. The best advice I can give anyone and everyone is to love hard and pay close attention and appreciate those in your life because in the blink of an eye they might be taken....

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• Comment Link Monday, 09 December 2024 19:56 posted by Ramah Baptist Church

  Our condolences go out to the Laird family..so sorry for your loss. Ramah Baptist Church

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• Comment Link Monday, 09 December 2024 19:48 posted by Charles Rainey

  R.I.P. bro.
  Chuck was a great friend. He touched many people. If he waa your friend you had a friend. Man bro this breaks my heart. But I know u are up in Heaven's gym. I'll see u again bro

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• Comment Link Sunday, 08 December 2024 12:20 posted by Bret Moore

  Very sad to hear of Chuck’s untimely passing. We were good friends growing up. Go Independence Pirates!

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• Comment Link Saturday, 07 December 2024 23:40 posted by Alane McRaney

  My heart is so broken, I worked for Chuck when I was 19 in a security company he had started. He and I became instant friends, once our lives took us is separate directions we stayed in contact that was 20 years ago! I can’t explain how that man helped motivate me and how his roll in my life made me a better person!
  Chuck you will always be remembered and loved. Thank you for being in my life ?

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• Comment Link Saturday, 07 December 2024 20:23 posted by James

  You knew me when I had hair. We heard about each other before we met. We roomed together for a while. So many stories. Your mom was always so kind and sweet and you were such a loving son. We had really good times, bad times, and times in the middle which are irreplaceable just like you. I love and will miss you friend.

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• Comment Link Saturday, 07 December 2024 16:49 posted by Patsy (Mrs. Tom) Gartman

  Precious young man. I so enjoyed seeing him, my daughters and all their friends cutting up at my house. He will be missed.

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• Comment Link Saturday, 07 December 2024 07:36 posted by Mike McIntyre, Sr

  Chuck Laird was a unique man, such a stong man in sooo many ways. I was shocked by his passing, but so very proud of getting to know him.
  This is a copy of a recent note sent to a mutual Friend of Chuck's.....
  
  Thanks Adam Watkins for letting me "peek" at your amazing journey with Chuck Laird , your Friend/trainer/brother in ARMS (& all the other muscles) and, no doubt, your mutual battles over heart & brain. I enjoyed observing the amazing progress you both made over the last six years or so (from a safe distance of 90 miles or so thru shared Facebook posts). I thought I had met Chuck for the first time as a student in my Economics class as a 19 y/o sophomore at Copiah-Lincoln CC back in '93. Even then Chuck stood out among his peers...great student, but quietly stood out in so many ways as a not-so-typical college soph! He loved being a fun-loving student outside the classroom with his friends, but had disciplined himself to appear as a well disguised "taker of notes," always with a twinkle in his eyes ?! As a 20 year veteran fun-loving instructor (as well as a former college athlete & seasoned varsity tennis coach), one of my hobbies was attempting to get inside my students minds/hearts. I gave students extra credit for classroom notes which I took up at random a couple of times each semester and the when they took their 2 hr Final Comprehensive Exam! Chuck's notes were neat, well organized & disciplined, but gave me a glimpse at what caused the bright twinkle in his eyes! In addition to his Economics notes, he worked in very detailed notes of his extracurricular activities... weight-training, FUN TIMES, daily/nightly social activities with FRIENDS (it helped me understand more about those ever present TWINKLES in his eyes!).
  Chuck transferred to USM in Hattiesburg, finished his degree and launced into opening up his own weight training & fitness center! It didn't take long for him to become a nationally recognized body builder with lots of trophies for the wall!
  I was so happy to see how Chuck's life had turned out. Happy to have a "connection" to his young, adult life. This is where Chuck's Story adds an extra twinkle and a twist I did not see coming. I found out that I had already run into Chuck Laird & his adopted family when he was a very young child in my hometown of Natchez! It's very complicated, but my Natchez family were connected to Chuck's adopted family and at one point lived on the same block in the Natchez suburb of Morgantown. By the time Chuck wound up in my 1993 Co-Lin classroom, he was about 20 yrs old and I was 45-ish!
  I'm sooo happy that Chuck popped back up in my life and brought sooo many others with him, including his adopted Mom ("Vicky," Carolyn Victoria Strahan Laird) and her entire Family! Thank you Adam Watkins for my opportunity to meet one of Chuck's very best clients and FRIENDS...it was an amazing story that unfortunately ended sooner than we all would have liked! It has taken me 77 yrs to compress my life philosophy to two words: "CONTROL TODAY!" Life should always be lived under CONTROL! Calling on FRIENDS to help you maintain control is a sign of strength, not weakness. Taking a bit of each day to review YESTERDAY & your PAST to help you prep for a better TOMORROW! Whomever came up with that little old sign that says: "FREE BEER TOMORROW!" was a marketing genius! Great to think & learn from your PAST, but you can't stay there! Tomorrow never comes! Live TODAY, every day! Never give up...never, ever give in!

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• Comment Link Saturday, 07 December 2024 01:55 posted by Suzanne Stockstill

  You will be greatly missed. All of those who knew Chuck had nothing but positive experiences with him, & he made such a positive impact on all of his clients lives. His sudden death has thoroughly impacted the community, and lives will be changed forever. RIP Chuck Laird. Much love to you and your family.

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• Comment Link Friday, 06 December 2024 22:46 posted by Regina Tucker

  You were my sister's baby, but you were my "baby", too, before I was married & had babies of my own. You had SO much to offer your section of the world....between your wisdom & experience with Sports Medicine & Exercise Physiology, earning yourself a degree in those fields at USM, as well as trophys/awards in bodybuilding, your expertise in fitness training & meal planning....all of that has been a blessing to many of your clients, friends & family. Then there is your love of playing the piano....by ear, no less....what a MIRACLE, having been born to a woman who was deaf. You entertained & blessed many listeners of your piano performances on FB. Wish you had known/believed how much you were loved, wanted & needed. You DID have purpose & reason to live....because of all that I just said & to be God's child, your Mom's son, a member of our family, a helper & an inspiration to all your clients/family & friends. Chuck, you ARE loved & will be sorely missed. Now you can keep all of Heaven in shape with your fitness program & entertained with your piano playing!

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• Comment Link Friday, 06 December 2024 19:31 posted by John Paul

  Rest in heaven Chuck now you can truly be at peace.

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