Charles Turner Williams, III, of Jarrettsville, Maryland, passed peacefully on May 9, 2026, at Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, surrounded by his family, after a brief illness. He was 85 years old.

Born February 1941 in Baltimore to Charles Turner Williams, Jr. and Virginia Pegram McIntosh Williams, Charles attended Gilman School in Baltimore and St. Paul's School in Concord, NH. He thereafter graduated from Princeton University in 1963 and earned an M.B.A. from the University of Virginia Darden School of Business in 1965. He earned his Chartered Financial Analyst designation in 1973.

Charles devoted his professional life to investment banking, corporate finance, and business management. After beginning his career as a securities analyst on Wall Street, in 1974 he joined the family investment banking firm, C.T. Williams & Co., founded by his grandfather in 1923. Charles worked in the firm with his father, became the firm's president, and ultimately managed the sale of the firm's securities brokerage business to Legg Mason in 1979. Following that sale Charles became Executive Vice President of Buttonwood Capital Corporation, a Legg Mason affiliate, and progressed to co-found Kennilworth Holdings, a leveraged buy-out firm. He also continued as President of C.T. Williams & Co., operating as a private investment firm, and served as an officer and director of Southwestern Virginia Energy Industries, Ltd., working with family members to oversee subsidiary businesses including a natural gas distribution public utility in Martinsville, Virginia and retail propane distribution companies in Southwestern Virginia.

Charles gave much of his time over the years to organizations he cared deeply about. He served for many years as a director, trustee, and in other capacities for the Greater Baltimore Medical Center and served as a director and president of the Eudowood Foundation (Hospital Consumptives of Maryland) supporting pediatric research at Johns Hopkins Children's Medical and Surgical Center.

As measured by his 50 years of membership and the many offices and duties for the Club he assumed over those years, including as a Governor, Secretary and Treasurer, the Elkridge-Harford Hunt Club was among the organizations Charles treasured most. His interest and support reflected his own experience caring for horses and riding at his parents' farm on Dulaney Valley Road near Towson, which led him to enjoy decades of fox hunting. In more recent years Charles' love of equestrian sports brought him to regularly attend Maryland polo matches, which he thoroughly enjoyed and invited others to share with him. Similarly, Charles was nearly always present at Maryland's annual steeplechase races, hosting friends and family from a bountiful picnic basket. In the more distant past Charles also enjoyed the congeniality of membership in the Elkridge Club and the Maryland Club. He was likewise a devoted member of the St. James and Holy Cross Episcopal Churches.

Charles was in every respect a family man. He encouraged his children to become involved in their community as well as to develop their own considerable skills, either professionally or on horseback. He loved to share the beauty of the family farm with guests on any major family occasion and he was happy to work hard to be sure that the farm was properly presentable for each such event. He was always welcoming to others and generous to friends and family. He enjoyed the farm work and took great pride in his family and the lives they built together.

Charles also was well known for his keen and perceptive wit. He was a good teacher, listened to others carefully, and offered kind and wise counsel. He was also very bright and a voracious reader. Reading relaxed him, and what he read, he would remember. Whether the issue was a personal matter or problem of business, he had the ability to thoughtfully distill the essence of complex issues and explain them in plain language. His was a voice worth listening to.

Charles is survived by his wife, Margaret "Margie" Jean Williams; his three children, Virginia W. Curry (and her husband Blake), H. Ashton Williams, and Charles Turner Williams, IV (and his wife Kiefer); his grandson, Charles Hayes Williams; his sister, Charlotte Williams McClain of Martinsville, Virginia; his brother, David McIntosh Williams of Baltimore; and many nieces, nephews, and extended family.

A private burial will be held at St. Thomas' Episcopal Church in Owings Mills, Maryland. A memorial service will follow at 11:30 a.m. on Monday, May 18, 2026, at St. James Episcopal Church in Monkton, Maryland.

Gifts in Charles's memory may be directed to the Johns Hopkins Children's Center, online at https://secure.jhu.edu/form/children , or by mail to Johns Hopkins Children's Center, 750 E. Pratt St., Ste. 1700, Baltimore, MD 21202.