'There are just none like him.' Memphis doctor Charlie Safley dies from COVID-19 complications

Charlie Safley was committed to making memories and to helping others do the same, whether it was his family or a total stranger. When he saw a group trying to take a photo, he would always go over and offer to take the picture so no one would have to be left out, his daughter, Allison Warren said. 

While on vacation once, he saw a group taking a photo and offered to take it so the cameraman could get in the shot. After going back and forth--with a bit of a language barrier--the cameraman agreed to get into the photo. Safley later learned that person was a professional photographer who had been hired to take the group’s photos. 

“He was always thinking of others, and giving memories to other people,” Warren said. “We’re just so lucky that we were able to do that with him.” 

Safley died on Friday of complications related to COVID-19. He was 78.

A dermatologist by trade with a private practice in Memphis, many people called him “doc,” Kem Wilson, a friend of Safley’s since childhood, said. Wilson described his friend as a devoted husband, father and grandfather, a generous friend and a one-of-a-kind character who lit up every room he entered. 

"They sort of threw away the mold after he was made," Wilson said. "There are just none like him. He's really been that kind of personality all through his life."

Wilson said Safley had an ability to connect with anyone and maintained friendships with people of all ages and all walks of life--including Wilson's children.

"I say he's the most unforgettable character anyone ever met," he said. "You would just have to know him. He was kind of larger than life. He was funny but yet sincere. He was compassionate."

Safley’s daughter, Carlie Baker, said her father never met a stranger, had an infectious personality and was deeply devoted to his wife, three daughters and grandchildren. 

“We don't have any inkling of doubt that dad was proud of and loved each one of us,” Baker said. “His love for the family was deep.”

Safley and his wife, Donna Safley, were "the gold standard" for couples, Wilson said. All of Safley’s daughters agreed, and Elliot Boehm, the oldest of Safley’s daughters, said her parent’s parenting style was something she tried to emulate with her kids.

Boehm said her dad was supportive of whatever activity his daughters took on. She played volleyball at White Station High School and he would often take her team out for pizza after games. 

“Whatever sport we played he enjoyed coming to the games,” she said. “He was always there to cheer us on. And he didn't just cheer us on, he cheered the entire team on.”

Aside from medicine and his family, Safley loved fishing and duck hunting, trained labrador retrievers to be his hunting dogs and collected duck decoys, Wilson said. His daughters said that if boys came over to the house, he would jokingly remind them that duck hunting had made him a very good shot. 

Safley was the life of every party--taking over the bandstand at weddings became something of a Safley tradition--and a jokester who was often pulling pranks on friends and family. At the same time, Wilson said, he was dependable, the kind of friend that someone can call at 3 a.m. and he would come to help, no matter what.

"He was just an amazing person. He lit up the room when he entered. He was full of life and always had a way of making people feel good," Wilson said.

His daughters said he treated strangers like they were close friends, paying the tabs for first responders at restaurants, buying basketballs and hoops for kids he saw playing on dilapidated courts and sending a check to a man fixing up a community church that Safley and his wife met while driving down to Florida.  

“Wherever he went he became part of the community,” Baker said. “He was his own community and wherever he went, that got extended and extended.”

The family is asking those with fond memories and stories about Safley to share them by emailing docsafleymemories@gmail.com, for the family to enjoy while they can't physically see friends and neighbors.

Corinne Kennedy is a reporter for the Commercial Appeal. She can be reached via email at Corinne.Kennedy@CommercialAppeal.com or on Twitter @CorinneSKennedy