The Brethren Community
Charles Cupp: A lifetime of service
By Marianne Clark and Nancy Rush
Senior Scribes 

The following story is about a man who chose to build his life around the word of God. It is a story of discipleship and a lifetime of devotion to his Christian beliefs. The factual information is the result of an interview, conducted by Marianne Clark, member of the Senior Scribes, and written by Nancy Rush, also a member of that organization. The purpose of the interview, as part of a service of the Senior Scribes, is to provide family members a glimpse into the life and legacy each person leaves behind. 

Charles Sherman Cupp was born on March 14, 1934 in Circleville, Ohio to Arthur and Virginia (Arledge) Cupp. The second of nine children, he and his siblings grew up in Pickaway County and were members of the Circleville Church of the Brethren. It was in this church that Charles grew to know and understand the meaning of the Christian faith. It was in this same church that Charles was baptized as a youth. His parents were devout members of the congregation and, throughout his years, Charles has followed in that same dedication and commitment to the Lord. 

As a child, Charles remembers when he and a brother both developed whooping cough and pneumonia at the same time; Charles was only about a year old and his brother was two and a half. Sadly, his brother passed away and, in Charles words, he became the representative of the family because he was the oldest of those who came after him. However, Charles related, that today his younger brother has taken over that responsibility and lets other relatives know about upcoming family-related gatherings. 

Reflecting upon those early days, Charles said that his mother always loved summer picnics and, at the end of July, it wasn’t unusual for the entire family to celebrate the season with an annual picnic. Oftentimes, many of the Cupp relatives would invite their close friends to the celebration as well. Even though these friends were not directly related, they were warmly welcomed to the festivities. 

Church camp also provided a wonderful experience for Charles as a young boy. It was a time for spiritual growth, as well as an opportunity for fellowship among and with other children his age. 

Charles’ own father was a minister and, when asked what it was like to be a preacher’s son, he replied that it wasn’t much different than other families growing up; there was no pressure to conform to a regimented way of life. He had just a “normal” childhood and felt no stress or anxiety to behave in any certain way. 

The influence of religion in the home most likely had a bit to do with Charles’ decision to immerse himself more fully into the church; at age nine he made a commitment to the Lord and was formally baptized into Christianity. As Charles put it, this decision has helped him over the years to develop a deeper understanding of what it means to be of that faith and to become a disciple of Christ. He related that he still has a strong interest to further develop this understanding and that he does lots of reading in order to receive and understand others’ perspectives and how he fits into that as well. 

Charles was a very good scholar and reports that his grades in deportment “were high.” He said that he didn’t want to get into any kind of trouble so he behaved himself pretty well. Additionally, he relied on the experiences of others as a measure of good behavior, understanding that actions often speak louder than words. 

When Charles was just a youngster, he acquired his first paying job. “I was in the fourth grade of school and World War II was going on. A local farmer needed help harvesting his potato crop; it was then that I got my Social Security card. I was nine at the time.” 

Charles continued his story of helping out in the family as best he could with the following: “I came from a large family and we tried to be as industrious as we could. If you could get a part-time job you did. I worked a paper route and then after high school I worked in a couple of local industries. After high school, in the fall of 1954, I entered Manchester College in Indiana but I only went one year. But later I returned to school and attended McPherson College.” 

Looking back at his accomplishments in high school, Charles stated that he invested his time during the eighth grade and his freshman year working in a local dairy store. The store manager gave him the job all during his high school years and allowed for him to basically “run the place” during the evenings and Saturday mornings. As an additional part of his duties, he was also responsible for picking up the raw milk in the mornings before he had to attend school. 

When asked about sports activities, Charles reported that he “dabbled” a little bit in football as a freshman. 

Following his graduation from high school in 1952, Charles went in for his pre-induction physical for entering a branch of the military but was turned down because of a congenital condition that was prevalent in his family history. Charles also reported that he had, at that time, “flat feet” and was therefore, rejected from becoming a participant in the military service. 

Charles met his wife, Judy Hurst, when her family came to live in Circleville. Her father, John, had recently been appointed as the pastor for the local Church of the Brethren and since Charles was a member there, it was only natural that the two of them would meet. The relationship developed into a beautiful romance and they were married on Sunday, August 4, 1957. By the end of that same month, Charles was licensed to the ministry by the Southern Ohio District at the Church of the Brethren. 

September of 1957 found Charles continuing his studies at the Bethany Bible Training School. Located on the campus of Bethany Seminary in Chicago, Illinois, Charles graduated in May of 1959. He then applied to the McPherson College in Kansas and was accepted into the college as a junior, based upon his past academic work. 

During his college years, Charles served as part-time pastor to two different churches in the Western Plains District; among these were the Larned (Kansas) Church of the Brethren from 1959-1961 and the Eden Valley Church of the Brethren , St. John, Kansas from 1961-1962. 

In 1962, Charles and Judy completed their college studies at McPherson College in McPherson, Kansas and both received Bachelor of Arts degrees. And it was in the fall of 1962 that Charles was admitted to the Bethany Theological Seminary in Chicago/Oak Brook, Illinois. The summer of 1964 found Charles completing his practicum as the summer pastor at the Lakeview Church of the Brethren in Brethren, Michigan. He would go on to earn his Master of Divinity degree (M.Div.) with the class of 1965. 

Charles continued his academic pursuit by completing post-graduate credits at Northern Illinois University, DeKalb. He also served as an adjunct faculty member at The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. And in May of 1965 he received his ordination for the ministry at the Circleville Church of the Brethren. 

Charles was called to accept the pastorate position at the Olivet Church of the Brethren near Thornville, Ohio and began his ministry there on July 1, 1965.  Located east of Columbus, Charles would remain in that community until June of 1974. Charles referred to that period of his life with the following, “It was also during this time that I began my relationship with the White Cottage Church of the Brethren as moderator.” He has continued this affiliation with the church. An interesting fact to note is that his father briefly served a pastorate role at White Cottage. 

In 1974, the congregation decided they didn’t have the financial means to continue with a full-time pastorate position. This presented a challenge for Charles because the church was now offering a part-time position in that same capacity. This also left Charles with a big decision to make; he and his wife now had two sons and his wife was engaged in teaching. They just couldn’t afford for him to work part-time. 

With the firm belief that the Lord will provide, it wasn’t long before Charles was offered a position with the Ohio Department of Mental Health. He accepted and began his institutional ministry on September of 1974; Charles would continue his career with the Department of Mental Health until his retirement in August of 1997. 

When asked if this department was a local organization, Charles replied that it was local in the beginning (local as far as where he lived at the time), because the Department had facilities in the county he lived in. However, after two years there the state decided they would close that facility and transfer to the Columbus area. 

And so it was that the last five years of his services, Charles would work at the Central Ohio Psychiatric Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. At the time of his retirement, Charles had dedicated twenty-four years of his life to the mental health field. 

Charles summed up his philosophy on life with the following: “I have lived my life in such a way that I reduce anxiety quite simply – I don’t avoid issues but see them so they aren’t a dominant factor in my life. Doing so has helped me to understand and accept others.” 

Looking back on the formative years of his own family, Charles stated that he and his wife Judy have been married fifty-five years and have two sons, Joel and Stephen. Stephen lives in the Fortville area in Licking County in the small town of Homer and works for the Department of Mental Health. Joel, who is self-employed, has his own roofing and siding business. Charles and Judy have four grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. 

Charles related an interesting story of a conversation he had with one of his grandsons. It seemed the grandson called one day and said that he had a problem. Charles said, “Buddy, you have to know the problem. The grandson replied, “But I have choices! I can either slap him or hit him.” Charles then stated they talked and talked until he finally convinced the grandson that hitting him wouldn’t achieve much because “he’ll just hit you back!” 

And then one day when Judy was making party mix and Charles was setting the table in anticipation of their daily meal, their own four-year-old son started looking at cookie recipes in the family cookbook. He automatically turned to the page with the recipe for peanut-butter cookies. It was at that same moment that Judy opened a can of peanuts to add to the party mix. The son said, “That’s my favorite cookie and I can smell it now!” 

Before his retirement, Charles served as a commission and chair member, board member and moderator for the Southern Ohio District of the Church of the Brethren. Since his retirement, he has served as the interim part-time pastor of the Circleville Church of the Brethren from September 1998 through June of 2004. He has also represented the Southern Ohio District as an elected delegate to the Annual Conference Standing Committee from 2002-2007 and the Small Membership Church Leadership Team and Brotherhood Board from 2002-2006. 

Charles has also explored other avenues of service to the community. For example, he has been a volunteer with the American Lung Association of Ohio for 23 years, and served as the president of the board. During this time he met some very interesting and famed people, such as Bob Evans. 

Charles continued with the following story, “When I went to Olivet Church of the Brethren as a young pastor, I took the church news to a local newspaper - such as the Darke County Early Bird – and the editor of the paper asked if I would take the honorary chair position for the Christmas Seals that year. That was in 1966. I agreed and then after that they invited me to be a member of their association. Later I would become president of that same association.” 

Charles also served on the Perry County Board of Mental Health for three terms for a total of ten years, and was a member of the Thornville Lions Club for 47 years. He said that he had served in all offices with the Lions Club with the exception of Treasurer.  Charles expressed his affection for public service because “it has always provided an avenue and opportunity to invest in the community.” 

When speaking of his years in mental health, Charles reiterated that in 1974 there were 18 mental health hospitals in the State of Ohio, now there are four. “Rehabilitation programs didn’t start right away – up to that time it was mostly custodial care. When I started at the Columbus hospital they had a patient census of 2200. When I left the patient census number was 225; attrition gaps and moving people to other facilities created this.” 

“Another thing they did was to establish houses or apartments where these people could live. The mental health associates checked on them in their apartments. This took the patients out of the institutions. Some needed out but others could have benefitted from staying in the hospital.” 

Charles said he always looked forward to going to work because it presented a new experience for him and, because of that, he fully invested himself into whatever he was asked to do. “I always enjoyed what I was doing at the time,” he said. 

His work was basically in administration for the Office of Mental Health. As such, one of his positions was the Director of Mental Health for the Deaf within the State of Ohio and located in Columbus. Charles would hold this position approximately 13 years. 

During that time,” the department and the legislature came up with a revised Ohio code on mental health and the new law referred most of the people back to their own communities where they had mental health facilities to address their mental health problems. That’s when they closed out the deaf portion of the mental health program. At one time we had about 25 clients centered in the program. It was not only mental health but rehabilitation was a part of it too and included an educational element. It gave opportunities for rehabilitation outside the institution and even employment to get an opportunity to get their GED diploma at the same time. The program was imaged after the National Institute of Health in Washington, D.C.”

Charles continued, “When Dayton’s mental health facility closed, some of those people were moved back into the community – others who needed the care and supervision were transferred to Cincinnati or Columbus.” 

When asked how he came to live in Darke County, Charles said, “I came here after retirement to become a part of the Brethren Retirement Community. However, I have been affiliated with the Church of the Brethren forever.” 

Charles and his family had been to Darke County for visits on a number of occasions. His in-laws, John and Marjorie Hurst, still live here. John was the pastor in northwest Darke County; at one time in Lightsville and Beech Grove over by the Hollansburg area. “I am acquainted with Darke County in that regard,” Charles said. 

“We moved here on February 22, 2011,” Charles continued. “As far as the community here, we enjoy living here and meeting people. Darke County offers opportunities that I didn’t have where I was,” Charles stated. 

Always open to new and energizing experiences, Charles and Judy have acclimated to the country life found in Darke County.  Living within the Brethren Retirement Community, a Christian-based facility, has afforded them the opportunity for cultural enrichment, as well as the chance to meet new people, make new friends and to discover the agricultural and frontier heritage that the city of Greenville has to offer. Living close to their in-laws has also given them the opportunity for involving themselves more deeply within family-related activities as well as the chance to expand upon their public service endeavors.