Well-known Black Belt businessman Charles Albert Warren died Friday in a local hospital. His funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Monday at Lawrence Funeral Home Chapel.

The Rev. Micah Gandy and Gery Anderson will officiate. Burial will be in New Live Oak Cemetery.

The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 a.m. Monday, immediately prior to the service.

Founder and CEO of Southland Chemical Company Inc., Warren was born in Orrville March 10, 1938, the son of Leila Goins and the Rev. Dr. E.B. Warren.

After graduating from Orrville High School, he entered the University of Southern Mississippi and received a degree in business administration in 1959. He was a member of Phi Eta Sigma and Delta Sigma Pi, honorary fraternity.

He was married in 1956 to Martha Beane, also of Orrville, and the couple lived in Hattiesburg until his graduation when he accepted a position with Bowater Paper Company in Rock Hill, S.C.

In 1965 they returned Selma, where he opened Southern Chemical Co., which remains in its original location on Lauderdale Street. He is also known throughout the region for his expertise in pool design and maintenance.

Warren assumed an active role in the community, where he was a member and former president of the Selma Lions Club, a longtime volunteer at the Alabama Eye Bank and a volunteer at the Red Cross for 27 years. Each of those years he presented the musical program at the annual meeting.

An accomplished musician, he was organist and choir director at First Christian Church for three decades. At Elkdale Baptist Church, where he held membership, he had been organist for the past 12 years. Warren also served at Temple Mishkan Israel and played the organ at other churches frequently for weddings and funerals.

In his spare time, Warren enjoyed gardening, swimming and his family.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Martha Beane Warren of Selma; his son, Lt.Col. John Mark Warren (his wife Monica) of Chester, Va.; his son Cecil David Warren (his wife Allison) of Powder Springs, Ga.; and his daughter Elizabeth Warren Hopp (her husband Douglas) of Fredericksburg, Va.

He is survived by grandchildren Jay Russell Diebold, Lindsie Warren Diebold, Martha Elizabeth Diebold, McKayla Morgan Hopp and Emma Caroline Hopp of Fredericksburg; Claire Alice Warren, Katharine Helen Warren, Anna Grace Warren and Augustas David Warren of Powder Springs; and Charles Ryan Warren and Justin Tyler Warren of Chester.

Other survivors are his brother Paul G. Warren (his wife Betty); three sisters-in-law, Florence Mayton Warren, Clarice Warren Morgan and Alice Beane Cope; special friends Jerry Smitherman, Noah Deatheridge and Charles Craig; and several nieces and nephews.

Predeceasing him are his parents, his brothers George B. Warren and Edward B. Warren Jr.; his sister Ruth M. Warren; a son, Charles Albert Warren Jr.; his daughter Catherine Martha Warren; and his mother and father-in-law Maudie and Cecil T. Beane.

Pallbearers will be Mark Warren, David Warren, Douglas Hopp and Lee Boozer. Honorary pallbearers will be Jay R. Diebold, Charles Ryan Warren, Justin Tyler Warren and Augustas “Gus” Warren.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Men’s Friday Morning Breakfast Group at First Presbyterian Church, of which he was a faithful member; the American Red Cross; the Old Depot Museum; Elkdale Church or a charity of choice.