Trailblazing Pharmacist’s ‘Incredible Life and Legacy’ Spanned 65 Years

 

The late Dr. Charles A. Champion had served the Memphis
community since 1981, the year he launched Champion's Pharmacy
and Herb Store. Here, in this 2014 photo, he's mixing a gel-based
ointment with a spatula. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

MEMPHIS, TN – He was a “Pill-er of the Community,” one of several slogans Dr. Charles A. Champion used to promote Champion’s Pharmacy & Herb Store in the Whitehaven community.

A longtime independent pharmacist, Dr. Champion was widely known for dispensing both traditional drugs and herbal remedies. He’d spent more than 40 years building a loyal customer base. 

On Jan. 21, Dr. Champion died, bringing an end to a total of 65 years in pharmacy. He was 92.

The family expressed the loss of Dr. Champion in a statement to the media that underscores his “incredible life and legacy.”

“Dr. Champion spent his career creating and providing remedies to treat many common illnesses,” the statement reads. “His dedication and love for people and his community were evident in his work. 

“The joy Dr. Champion found in serving others was immeasurable, and we are grateful to everyone who trusted him and Champion’s Pharmacy & Herb Store with their health and wellness needs.”

The statement concludes with an appeal for the community to continue to carry Dr. Champion “in your hearts and continue to ‘Live Like A Champion,’” a recent slogan heralded by the family.

Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland tweeted his condolences to Dr. Champion’s family. “I was saddened to hear about the death of Dr. Charles Champion. He was a true champion.” 

Strickland presented Dr. Champion with the key to the city in 2019.

Dr. Willie W. Herenton, the former mayor of Memphis, spoke highly of Dr. Champion, calling him a trailblazer in his profession of pharmacy in Tennessee and throughout the nation.

“We have loss a trailblazer…” he said. “He was loved and respected by many. He and I had a great friendship over the years. I had great admiration and respect for Dr. Champion.”

Herenton shared fond memories of meeting Dr. Champion for the first time after speaking with a neighbor in the early years. 

“I vividly remember my neighbor saying, ‘There’s a Black man that’s a doctor with a white coat on down in the shopping center,’” he recalls. “This was at Katz Drug Store (which first opened in Memphis in 1954).” 

Herenton said he walked down to the drugstore to see for himself. “I’d never seen a Black man behind a drugstore [sic] with a white coat on. That’s when I first met Champion,” he said.

Dr. Champion worked 12 years at Katz Drug Store. He was the first African-American pharmacist hired by the chain in the city. Before then, he’d worked 12 years in pharmacy at the former John Gaston Hospital in Memphis. 

Before his foray into pharmacy, Dr. Champion matriculated at Xavier University College of Pharmacy in New Orleans and graduated in 1955. He also spent two years in Germany in the United States Army as a pharmacist.

Dr. Champion and his wife, the former Carolyn Bailey, whom he married in 1958, first opened Champion’s Pharmacy & Herb Store in 1981 at 1925 Third Street and moved 10 years later to their current location at 2369 Elvis Presley Blvd.

Mrs. Champion served as the pharmacy’s business manager.

In 2021, when Dr. Champion was 90, he spoke candidly to The Tennessee Tribune about his life and legacy. He was semi-retired then. His daughters – Dr. Carol “Cookie” Champion and Dr. Charita Champion Brookins, both pharmacists – were running the day-to-day operation. 

“It's a godsend situation,” Dr. Champion told The Tribune. “After we lost our daughter Chandra (in 2014), who was a certified pharmacy technician, she’d produced two children who are able to help us from a financial standpoint and from a scientific standpoint.” 

Dr. Carol Champion had said she hopes to expand what her father had built. “I want to expand our territory and be able to grow the online sales,” she had said in 2021, “and possibly open a west Tennessee location within two to three years.”

Right now, the family is grieving the loss of the trailblazing founder of Champion’s Pharmacy & Herb Store, Dr. Charles A. Champion. 

Funeral arrangements: A wake for Dr. Charles A. Champion is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 29, from 2 p.m.-6 p.m. at Mt. Olive Cathedral CME Church, 538 Dr. MLK Jr. Ave., Memphis, TN 38126. The funeral is Monday at noon, Jan. 30, also at the church.

Black Pioneer Pharmacist Thankful for Life, Legacy

Dr. Charles A. Champion, the quintessential pharmacist and 
herbalist in Memphis, started Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb
Store in 1981. (Photo by Wiley Henry)

Dr. Charles A. Champion is not shy about praising God for longevity and the path he took that led him to become the quintessential pharmacist and herbalist in Memphis and Shelby County. 

He’s 90 years old, married 64 years to Carolyn Bailey Champion, and has two daughters – Dr. Carol “Cookie” Champion and Dr. Charita Champion Brookins, both pharmacists, holding down Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store since their father is semi-retired.

His grandchildren – Charles Edwin Champion, a chemist; Jessica Champion, a financial adviser; and Rikki Brookins, an assistant – are integral to the business as well. They’re a cohesive family intent on keeping the business relevant that their grandfather started Jan. 5, 1981, at 1925 Third Street before moving 10 years later to their current location at 2369 Elvis Presley Blvd.

“It's a godsend situation,” Dr. Champion said. “After we lost our daughter Chandra (in 2014), who was a certified pharmacy technician, she’d produced two children who are able to help us from a financial standpoint and from a scientific standpoint.” 

When asked the secret to his longevity, he said unapologetically, “Live like a champion,” a slogan that was culled from a recent honor he received at Xavier University College of Pharmacy in New Orleans, his alma mater.

He explained it this way: “I have to live in accordance with good health principles. As I counsel people daily, I must be able to convey to them good health practices. From that, I receive longevity… So, what I'm saying is I cannot sit here and tell the customers, or patients, one thing, then do another.” 

To say that Dr. Champion is thankful for life is an understatement. It is just as much a foregone conclusion that his hard work has produced results and a legacy that his children and grandchildren are taking to the next level. 

“You don't want me to start shouting,” he said at the onset of a split-second emotional outburst during an interview. Like pop-ups on the World Wide Web, Dr. Champion will let loose a praise when you least expect it.

It is his faith that propels him – he’s a longtime member of Mt. Olive CME Church – along with his willingness to stay the course despite the difficulties that often arise after small Black businesses move from concept to brick and mortar.

“If it hadn't been for the Christian Methodist Episcopal Church,” Dr. Champion said, “and the local church in Greenfield, Tenn. (his hometown) that guided me and kept me, and wounding up at a Catholic university, I wouldn’t be here.”

But he is here, to say the least, and making a difference in the lives of a many local and online customers looking for herbal remedies for simple ailments or looking for “the Pill-er of the Community” – one of his slogans – to fill their doctor’s prescription.

The majority of Dr. Champion’s customers are Black and come from varied socio-economic backgrounds. White walk-in customers comprise less than five percent of sales; however, 30 percent of them shop online. 

“I'm seeing people 50 and 60 years old that I waited on a number of years ago,” he said. “Then their family is telling other families. So I have served three or four generations.”

Dr. Carol Champion is hoping to expand what her father has built. “I want to expand our territory and be able to grow the online sales,” she said, “and possibly open a west Tennessee location within two to three years.”

A mobile unit was deployed a year ago in August. “Now we are able to go into the small towns,” she said, adding: “I’m trying to do what I can do to keep things going from what he’s built.” 

Dr. Champion’s daughters are running the day-to-day operation and “making decisions, ordering, and everything that is needed. I'm only called in for advice,” he said. “My role now is…I would say…I’m semi-retired due to my age and do the fact of my eyesight.” 

He is visually impaired, but perseveres, nevertheless. “But my mind, as far as I’m concerned, is still active,” he said. “I'm still active in the business. It's just that I'm not physically involved now.”

Here’s what he says about his legacy and leaving behind a blueprint for success that his children and grandchildren can follow: “It's important for the children to be aware of the fact that you need to stay one step ahead. You have to have vision. So, it's important for me to try to instill that in them.”

The bottom line? He’s trying to get them ready to step up to the plate. 

(For more information about Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store, contact Dr. Carol “Cookie” Champion at (901) 948-6622 or email her at championsherbstore@gmail.com. The website address is www.championsherbstore.com.)

Dr. Charles A. Champion: ‘A Pill-er in the Community’

     After the doors to Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store swing open, the voice of Dr. Charles A. Champion is activated and beckons customers into a nostalgic world that is replete with both medicinal drugs and herbal remedies.

     While herbs, tonics and vitamins are juxtaposed on shelves upfront, drugs requiring a prescription are filled behind the counter. It is a fusion of two worlds – one, a portal to yesteryear, or rather a makeshift museum, where the photos of pioneers and other artifacts are displayed; and the other, where customers can tarry until their prescriptions are filled.

     Longtime customers and others familiar with Dr. Champion’s reputation look to him to fill their prescription or remedy simple ailments with an herbal mix that don’t require a doctor’s prescription. Got a cough or cold, try the Cod Liver Oil Liquid Emulsion; for skin and hair care, try the Corn Huskers Hand Lotion or the Pine Tar Shampoo. 

     “If you come in and have high blood pressure, and buy high blood pressure herbal medicine, I’m going to give you a brochure,” said Dr. Champion. “If you come in with high cholesterol or diabetes – whatever you come in with – I try to have a brochure to accompany the medicine so you can get a better understanding of what is going on.”  

Dr. Charles A. Champion is an integral part of Memphis'
medical history. (Photos by Wiley Henry)

     Some medical doctors in Memphis who may find themselves baffled by a patient’s ailment, he added, “say go and see Dr. Champion and see what he has to say.” This is an honor that extends his reach in the community.

     Dr. Champion is a first-rate pharmacist with a thorough understanding of pharmacy. However, after 33 years in business – a total of nearly 60 years in pharmacy altogether – changes in the pharmaceutical industry have become increasingly evident.

     Insurance, low cost prescriptions and convenience often drive customers to the chain pharmacies. But Dr. Champion is not be deterred, owing longevity to his ingenuity, inventiveness, adaptability, and, most importantly, his willingness to serve the community.

     Service is the hallmark that keeps Champion’s Pharmacy flourishing, even though economic downturns and the rising tide of chain pharmacies have swept independent pharmacies like Dr. Champion’s to the wayside and, in some cases, out of business.

     Walgreens, for example, is the largest drug retailing chain in all 50 states. It has 17,935 pharmacists working in 7,694 stores. CVS Corp. follows with 7,288 pharmacies and 15,064 pharmacists; Walmart Stores Inc., with 4,242 pharmacies and 10,273 pharmacists; Rite Aid Corp., with 4,531 pharmacies and 8,769 pharmacists; and Kroger, with 1,876 pharmacies and 4,508 pharmacists.

Dr. Champion mixes a gel-based ointment with a spatula.

     The top five chain pharmacies, ranked this year by the number of pharmacists by the National Pharmacy Market Summary, could be the death knell of fledgling independent pharmacies. Still, there are other chains encroaching on the independents. But Dr. Champion is making headway in spite of stiff competition.  

     In the state of Tennessee, there are 418 chain pharmacies, 555 independent pharmacies, 222 supermarket pharmacies, and 244 mass merchant pharmacies, according to the National Community Pharmacists Association.

     “When I started in pharmacy in 1955…there were 154 independent, community-type drug stores,” said Dr. Champion, making note of his research. “There were two Walgreens…two Rexall’s…and six Pantaze Drug Stores that were owned by Mr. (Abe) Plough, who owned the Plough company.”  

     In 2014, Dr. Champion continued, “We have on record 128 chain drug stores (in the U.S.). We have in the city now four, or possibly five, independent community drug stores and about 14 hospital pharmacies. That is a complete turnaround of the number of private stores verses chain stores.”

     The independents include the minuscule number of African-American pharmacies here and across the country, said Dr. Champion, pointing to the only other African-American pharmacy in Memphis besides his own, Taylor Brown Apothecary.

     “Through all of this I’ve been able to survive,” the 84-year-old pharmacist said. “I feel that the reason for our survival is that we have been able to embrace the past, sustain the present, and always set goals for our future.”

           

The tools for survival…

     Despite the overwhelming odds against independent pharmacies and their unwillingness to yield to the conglomerates, Dr. Champion is not planning on yielding one iota. In fact, he is deeply rooted in Memphis and Shelby County, and his reputation for providing good service is stellar, widespread.

     “Serving people has been one of the survival tools of my business,” he said. “I’ve taught my employees and my family members…when serving a person, get their attention. Don’t do all the talking. Look them in their eyes.”

     Although Dr. Champion is African-American, he is not pigeonholed. His customers come from various communities, some faraway – Chinese, Hispanic, White, and Indian, for example – to see the pharmacist who bills himself as “the herbal pharmacist” and “the Pill-er in the community.”

      Dr. Champion didn’t get to where he is today overnight. After graduating from Xavier University College of Pharmacy in New Orleans in 1955, he spent two years in Germany in the United States Army as a pharmacist. Afterward, he worked 12 years at the former John Gaston Hospital as a pharmacist and 12 additional years as a pharmacist at a chain drug store.

     “I was the first African-American pharmacist to ever work in a hospital system in Memphis,” said Dr. Champion, noting as well his stint as the first African-American pharmacist at a drug chain, also in Memphis.

     Those honors are a few of several that were heaped upon Dr. Champion, whose claim to fame initially began after launching Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store in 1981 at 1925 Third Street. Ten years later the pharmacy would move to its current location at 2369 Elvis Presley Blvd.

     The focus and centerpiece of the business has always been on the application of pharmacognosy (the study of herbal medicine) and compounding medicine, said Dr. Champion, which he’d studied extensively in pharmacy school.

     The study of pharmacognosy and pharmaceuticals didn’t end after Dr. Champion graduated pharmacy school. “I have all kinds of books on compounding, on herbal medicine, on pharmacy,” he said. “I read all the journals that come across my desk. I know what’s in them. I know what’s going on in the field of pharmacy today.”

     Dr. Champion also has an extensive library at home, and reads the books and medical journals when he needs to research something. “So if something comes to mind when I need to look for something, I can do it right at home,” he said.

Continuing the legacy…

     Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store is a family business owned by Dr. Champion and his wife Carolyn Bailey Champion, who were married May 18, 1958. The couple has three daughters: Dr. Carol “Cookie” Champion and Dr. Charita Champion Brookins are pharmacists. Chandra Diane Champion-Walker, who died in March, was a certified pharmacist technician.

     Dr. Champion also has a grandson, Charles Edwin Champion, who is a chemist working in Nashville testing drugs in a lab. “I also have a granddaughter who is a financial advisor,” he said. “She has a degree from Christian Brothers University and she’s part of the business.”

     Longevity has kept Dr. Champion at the forefront in pharmacy. In retrospect, he’s made his mark in the community and beyond, doing what he does best – serving his customers. His knack for service started when he was 15 years old, assisting his grandmother who worked for a Jewish family in Greenfield, Tenn., his hometown.

     “It was my duty, with my little black bowtie on, to go out and announce to the Jewish host that dinner is served,” he recalls.

     Now Dr. Champion is serving people a prescription for wellness. The legacy is assured, he said, even as age slows his stride and renders him powerless to operate Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store. “Champion Pharmacy will live on,” he said. “ I hope I’ve been able to part some information and some skills so they (family) can carry this business on.”

     (For more information about Champion’s Pharmacy and Herb Store, contact Dr. Charles A. Champion at (901) 948-6622 or email him at drchamp@bellsouth.net. The website address is www.theherbalman.com.)