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Charlie Kennedy MD, a West Charlotte High School and Johnson C. Smith University graduate who desegregated the physician staff at North Carolina Baptist Hospital, died Aug. 29 in Winston-Salem.

Charlie Lee Kennedy MD, a Charlotte native and the first Black physician at North Carolina Baptist Hospital, died Aug. 29 at Wake-Forest Baptist. Dr. Kennedy was 88.

Dr. Kennedy, born May 24, 1933, was one of seven children born to Mary Mack Kennedy, a homemaker and Louis Kennedy, a factory worker. While his parents had limited education and lived in company housing, they set an example for their children to succeed.

After graduating West Charlotte High School in 1951, Dr. Kennedy joined the Air Force, where he worked as a radio operator and learned to speak fluent French until his discharge in 1955. Upon his return home, he enrolled at Johnson C. Smith University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 1959. While at JCSU he tutored students in French and thought about becoming a teacher, but ultimately decided to become a physician because his mother was often ill, and he admired the doctors who treated her.

Dr. Kennedy almost missed the opportunity to become a physician. When he was accepted at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, he was given 24 hours to register. His family couldn’t afford to get him into school, but a neighborhood shopkeeper’s generosity paved the way for him to make the deadline. Dr. Kennedy often related the story to help others understand that help can come from anywhere.

Dr. Kennedy married nursing student Willie Mae Alexander after his graduation in 1963 and they moved to Winston-Salem, where he completed his internship and a year of a general practice residency at Kate Bidding Reynolds Memorial Hospital.

He desegregated the pediatrics department at Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest College and North Carolina Baptist Hospital and upon completing his residency in 1967, opened his own practice in East Winston to provide medical care in underserved communities. He eventually sold his practice to Baptist and retired in 2009.

Dr. Kennedy was an avid volunteer and provided financial support to organizations. He created a scholarship fund for needy students at JCSU and advocated supporting organizations like the United Negro College Fund, where he helped with fundraising for the “Evening of Elegance,” which raising $250,000 annually. In 2003, he earned UNCF’s President’s Award by raising more than $2 million. He also earned the North Carolina Pediatrics Society Award.

Dr. Kennedy is survived by his wife of 58 years, Willie Mae Kennedy, his daughter Stacy Kennedy, and son Douglas Kennedy. His youngest son, Daryl, predeceased him.

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