Dr. Charles E. Gouge

OZAR…Dr. Charles E. Gouge, a resident of Ozark, went to be with the Lord on Friday morning, September 1, 2023, in a Dothan hospital. He was 89.

            Funeral services will be held at 3:30 P.M. Sunday, September 3, 2023, in the Faith Christian Center with Pastor Josh Sims officiating. Burial will follow in Woodlawn Memory Gardens. Fuqua Bankston Funeral Home of Ozark is in charge of arrangements. The family will receive friends from 6:00 until 8:00 P.M. Saturday at the funeral home.

            Memorial contributions may be made to Faith Christian Center, 853 Lakeview Road, Ozark, Alabama 36360.

            Mr. Gouge, son of the late Jake Benjamin Gouge and Ida Bell Hammond Gouge, was a native of Kingsport, Tennessee. During his life, his ministry consisted of Pastor, Evangelist, Missionary Broadcast in the West Indies, Camp Meeting Speaker, Full Gospel Business, Men’s speaker, and a cable television ministry in Fort Myers, Florida. He and his wife, Jackie, hosted tours of the Holy Land, Italy, Egypt, Petra in Jordan, England, Greece, and the Netherlands.

            Mr. Gouge pastored in Indiana, Tennessee, Florida, as well as Alabama. His Evangelistic Ministry was in several southern states. Many of the churches started out part-time, so he supplemented his income by servicing as a Chaplain and Counselor at Washington Park, Floral Park in Indianapolis and Green Lawn and Rest Lawn Cemeteries in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended Free Will Baptist College in Nashville, Tennessee, Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University), Marion, Indiana, and Berean Baptist College in Indianapolis. He was preceded in death by his wife, Jacklin “Jackie” Gouge; a daughter and son-in-law, Debbie and Keith Stinson; a sister and brother-in-law, Betty and Bud Bullington; brother-in-law, John Camden.

            Surviving relatives include a daughter, Lois Merritt (Daniel), Huntsville, Alabama; two sons, Gary Gouge, Sr. (Katherine), Daytona Beach, Florida and Charles T. Gouge (Sonya), Ozark; a sister, Sarah Camden, Indianapolis, Indiana; brother, Bill Gouge (Eva), Plainfield, Indiana; fourteen grandchildren; twenty-one great-grandchildren and one on the way; two great-great-grandchildren.        

            Serving as active pallbearers will be Daxley Seay, Jr., Danica Seay, Austin Sitz, Kaddan Sitz, Jonah Lawson, and Micah Lawson.