Charles Williams Garraway

Dr. Charles Williams Garraway, 78, of Abilene, passed away on Monday, May 23rd 2016. Visitation will be from 5:00-7:00 pm Friday, May 27th at The Hamil Family Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 28th at 1:00 pm at the First Baptist Church of Abilene Chapel with Dr. Phil Christopher of First Baptist Church of Abilene officiating. Burial will follow in Elliott-Hamil Garden of Memories Cemetery. Services are under the direction of The Hamil Family Funeral Home, 6449 Buffalo Gap Road, Abilene TX 79606. Dr. Garraway was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi to Isom Andrew, Sr. and Lela Grace Williams Garraway on January 3, 1938. He grew up in Janice Community, Mississippi, the youngest of three children. He was a veteran of military service in the U.S. Marine Corp. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Mississippi State University, a Masters of Social Science from the University of Mississippi, and a Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Southern Mississippi. He married Martha Stennett on August 15, 1963 in Laurel, Mississippi. He moved to Abilene, TX in the early 1970s with his young family. For 36 years, Dr. Garraway was a professor and chair of the Department of Political Science at Hardin-Simmons University (HSU). Dr. Garraway annually took his students to the United Nations in New York and established the Southwest Model United Nations group in 1991 at HSU. A member of Pi Gamma Mu, the national social science fraternity, he received a special award for leadership from that organization in 1988. He was a member of First Baptist Church and served as a deacon and Sunday School teacher there. He was also a member of the Abilene Rotary Club. He lived in Abilene for more than 40 years. Dr. Garraway was preceded in death by his parents Isom Andrew and Lela Garraway, a brother Isom Andrew Garraway Jr., a sister Evelyn Garraway Hamilton, her husband James W. Hamilton, Jr. and his nephew John B. Hamilton. Dr. Garraway is survived by Martha Garraway of Abilene: Grace Butler of Burleson, Jane and Scott Seamster of Burleson, Susan and Ryad Daoussi of Fairfax Virginia, and Josh Garraway of Tyler: Grandchildren-Abby Seamster, Kate Seamster, Jacob Butler, Jessie Butler, and Aiden Daoussi. Memorials may be given in lieu of flowers to the Alzheimers Association-Abilene, 301 South Pioneer Dr., Suite 105, Abilene TX 79605.