Fully accepted
Charlie Dobson is pictured with Deacon Mike Zboyovski and his son, Carl Dobson, at St. Eugene Church in Asheville. (Photo provided by Rick Lober) ASHEVILLE — Charlie Dobson, 93, may be the oldest convert to Catholicism in the history of the Diocese of Charlotte. His journey into the Church, although longer than many, has inspired others at St. Eugene Parish.
Dobson decided to formalize his conversion to the Catholic faith this year after attending the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults three times in the past five years since his son Carl’s conversion.
One of seven children, Dobson was raised a Southern Baptist and later embraced the Methodist and Presbyterian churches as an adult.
Dobson lived through the segregationist South, and he has a lifetime of experience in embracing change and relating to people from diverse religious and racial backgrounds. He served in the U.S. Navy for 11 years and then in the U.S. Army as a dentist. That’s where he met his late wife, Stella.
The two adopted Carl, who in Dobson’s later years served as a catalyst for his conversion to Catholicism. After his mother died in 2010, Carl went through a difficult time. A former Methodist minister, Carl started watching the televised Mass on EWTN. He found it to be very comforting and realized it helped him through his grief.
In 2014 Dobson visited St. Eugene Church, which also happens to serve as a polling place near the Dobsons’ home. After voting, he came home and, knowing that Carl enjoyed the chapel where the televised Mass was held, told Carl he would love the interior of St. Eugene Church.
“So both of us started attending church there and I took RCIA class in the autumn of 2014,” Carl recalls.
Carl entered the Church at Easter in 2015.
“I have my mother’s love of history, so I like the ritual,” he explains. “I think the Mass is beautiful. Of course, as the Eucharist is the climax of the Mass, I feel blessed being able to take the Eucharist weekly.”
Dobson shares that the final hurdle he needed to overcome to formalize his conversion was the understanding that he could keep his relationships with friends and family of the other denominations he had practiced over the course of his life.
“I didn’t want to give up my Presbyterian friends or my Methodist friends,” he says. He says he did not always find members of those former churches to be as accepting of his membership in other churches, so his complete acceptance at St. Eugene Parish has meant a great deal to him.
Deacon Mike Zboyovski assisted both Dobsons in their journey into the Church.
“Carl asked to continue participating in the RCIA process after he was fully initiated by serving as a sponsor and team participant,” Deacon Zboyovski says. “Carl’s call to RCIA ministry kept Charlie attending RCIA sessions.”
Deacon Zboyovski shares that the Dobsons’ story reminds him of how in John’s Gospel, “Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist, was first led to Jesus – and who in turn grabbed his brother Peter to come meet the newly discovered Messiah. The rest is history!”
“One is called into a deeper relationship with the Lord and before you know it, the word and the enthusiasm spreads,” he continues. “That was the case with Carl and Charlie. Carl was the ‘first called,’ and his faith and enthusiasm became the catalyst that prompted Charlie to continue to ‘come and see.’”
Carl agrees, saying, “There was no pressure on my part. He started going with me and started mentioning to me that he could understand what was going on and he agreed with what our priest Father Pat (Cahill) was saying. He said he felt at home from the very beginning at St. Eugene.”
A lifetime of wisdom comes through in Dobson’s advice to others.
“I would say, if you don’t know Christ you are missing out. Everyone should know the Lord and try to live by His example,” he says. “If you don’t live by Christ’s example, you are going to pay the consequences.”
Father Cahill, pastor, notes, “Charlie’s life journey is a reminder to me that goodness really does exist in our world.”
— SueAnn Howell, Senior reporter
