Charles E. Hines, III

Charles E. Hines III, who peacefully died on Thursday, August 22, 2024, was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on March 19, 1947 to Charles E. Hines, Jr. (Cincinnati) and Eileen (Neville) Hines (Co. Cork, Ireland). The family moved to Carlsbad, New Mexico in 1957 and Charlie graduated from the Carlsbad schools in 1966. Upon graduation from high school, Charlie worked for the U.S. Postal Service to help pay for college and attended New Mexico State University and Texas Tech University before graduating from The Ohio State University with a B.S. in Biology. During summers as an undergraduate, Charlie enjoyed studying at the OSU Stone Lab at Put-in-Bay harbor (Lake Erie) which was credited with motivating a lifelong interest in microscopic aquatic invertebrates and environmentalism, interests Charlie lovingly shared with the granddaughters when they planned and conducted science fair projects. On August 29, 1987, Charlie married true love Ellen Steele Molnar, a graphic artist and painter who was a constant companion until her death. They enjoyed cooking together, photography, antiquing, and hiking and explored over 80 nature preserves in Ohio during their years together. In 2015, the couple moved from their treasured home in Waldo, Ohio to Lancaster County to be near their grandchildren and because Ellen’s health was failing. Charlie spent the next seven years as a devoted caregiver to his wife and to all living creatures that had the good fortune of inhabiting their yard. Charlie retired as a chemist (specializing in pesticide residues in agricultural products) from the Nestle Quality Assurance Center in Dublin, Ohio after working many years at the Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus. Friends and loved ones will remember Charlie as a loyal and gentle person with a wry wit and a deep commitment to animal welfare and human rights. Surviving family include brother Tom Hines (Mindy) who led Charlie on many hikes through the rugged terrain of New Mexico and his children Robyn Robertson (Tim) and Kelly McCarty (Micheal) and grandchildren Ashley Robertson (Jesse), Cody Robertson (Summer), Peyon McCarty, Piper McCarty, and Pryce McCarty and great-grandchildren (Cooper, Cole, Riley, and Brynlee Robertson); sister Mary Walker (Terry decd) who blessed Charlie with three adored nieces, Katie Middleton, Laura Meyer (John) and Sheila Brown (Blaine), and their children (Morgan Brown, Will Brown, Hannah Middletown, and Lucas Meyer); step-daughter Stacie Molnar-Main (Donald Main) who is inspired by Charlie’s life-long commitment to learning, growing, and changing; and granddaughters, Naomi-Jeanne Main and Carolynn Main, who will miss Charlie’s Seussian rhymes, thoughtfulness and insatiable curiosity. The family appreciates the loving care provided to Charlie by staff at the inpatient center of Hospice & Community Care, Lancaster. A private online celebration of life will be held at a later date. If interested in joining RSVP to events@marottamain.com. Those who wish to acknowledge Charlie’s passing are encouraged to plant a pollinator garden or donate to the “Ohio Natural Areas and Preserve Association” or the “Center for Biological Diversity.”