Charles Benjamin Newsome

Mr. Newsome spent much of his life in Salisbury, NC. He was a man of strong Christian faith, a devoted supporter of University of North Carolina athletics and, put simply, a natural-born leader and delegator. He often told people that following him was not for the faint of heart. But he also quickly noted how he had been blessed his whole life with having friends and coworkers who wouldn’t take “no” for an answer.

That observation formed the theme for his 2022 self-published book, “Just Say Yes!”, which chronicled his longtime mission work in Zambia, a country to which he traveled more than 30 times. Mr. Newsome always emphasized there was no reason why the small size of any enterprise should stop it from dreaming big. He followed through on making many dreams a reality.

Born Feb. 10, 1937, Charles Benjamin Newsome was the son of Charles William Newsome and Lucille Lane. He grew up on a tobacco farm near Greenville, North Carolina. His father died when he was less than a year old, and his mother remarried when he was 5.

To make money after his stepfather died when he was 14, Mr. Newsome drove a school bus and worked as a cook in a drive-in restaurant. He attended Campbell College during his freshman and sophomore years before transferring to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in business and marketing in 1959. He was accepted into the UNC School of Law but chose a career in business instead.

Mr. Newsome forged a 51-year career with Johnson Concrete in Salisbury serving as Executive Vice President. He also held the position of General Manager for Carolina Stalite, a Johnson Concrete subsidiary. Under his direction, the Stalite operation in Gold Hill became the largest lightweight aggregate plant in the world. He also led the company's manufacturing change to a rotary kiln process, oversaw its development of patented processes to capture heat it was losing during manufacturing, and guided emission controls through trademarked diffusers.

Mr. Newsome chaired the Carolinas Concrete Masonry Association in 1999, and the National Concrete Masonry Association in 2013. In addition, he headed the Expanded Clay Shale and Slate Institute. He lobbied for years to create a commodity checkoff program for concrete masonry, making numerous trips to Capitol Hill to seek congressional authorization. His work and leadership in the industry led to his induction into the National Concrete Masonry Association Hall of Fame in 2019, the year of his retirement.

Mr. Newsome’s humanitarian saga began decades ago with a Sunday School class at Thyatira Presbyterian Church, in Rowan County. He was a founding member of that class, which today bears his name. After a personal trip Mr. Newsome made to Zambia in January 1989, he persuaded his Sunday School class to raise money and build an electrical substation for the small hospital in Mwandi. That first successful project led to Newsome’s strong friendship through the years with Senior Chief Inyambo Yeta and the hospital’s director, Dr. Salvador de la Torre.

Through Newsome’s persistence and the help of the Thyatira congregation, the village hospital became familiar to Presbyterian mission teams across the United States, Scotland, and Australia. The U.S. effort continues today through Mwandi Hospital American Partners.

Mr. Newsome led many other improvement projects in Mwandi, including the construction of the Simba House lodge, a new church building for the United Church of Zambia congregation and, most recently, an oxygen plant for the hospital. His efforts in Zambia also extended to a hospital in Mbereshi.

In addition, Mr. Newsome took part in building a church in Rio Verde, Brazil, and closer to home, helped Thyatira Presbyterian in winterizing the homes of needy families in Rowan County. Along the way, he cemented hundreds of friendships, which he cherished.

After retirement, Mr. Newsome and his wife, Christina, moved from Salisbury to a golf community in Waxhaw. He helped his wife in establishing a church with many of her friends and family from the Charlotte area.

Beyond his professional and humanitarian work, Mr. Newsome enjoyed traveling. He liked to say he fished in New Zealand and Alaska, watched a lizard race in Australia, and bought a concrete block machine in Japan. In China in the early 1970s, he retraced the Marco Polo Silk Road. He and his wife traveled extensively and cruised across the Atlantic and made stops in Europe and the Middle East.

Survivors include his wife, Christina Sheau-Chyi Chang Newsome, whom he married in 1993; son James Chang; daughter Helen Chang; son-in-law Joshua Thompson; and grandchildren Willoughby Thompson and Moses Thompson.

Funeral service will be held at Thyatira Presbyterian Church, 220 White Rd, Salisbury, NC 28147, on Saturday, January 13, 2024 at 2pm. The family will greet friends after the service.

Memorial contributions may be made to Mwandi Hospital American Partners or to UNC Scholarship and Student Aid in remembrance of Charles Newsome.