Charles Hudson Cattell

Charles Hudson Cattell, age 59, died in Lancaster on January 28, 2025 after a prolonged illness. Born in Lancaster on Easter Sunday in 1965, he was the beloved youngest son of Maria Gleaton Cattell and Hudson Cattell. He was known to friends and family as Chazz. Chazz attended The Cattell School, run by his grandmother Dr. Psyche Cattell, then Lancaster city schools, graduating from McCaskey. He spent summers with his grandparents, Anna Scofield and Munsey Gleaton, on their York County farm. Chazz enjoyed a study abroad year in London, earned a BA in English Literature at Washington & Jefferson College, and studied art history at Syracuse University. In the 1990s Chazz, his sister Kharran and her husband Juanito sold Kharran's handmade clothing and Chazz's comics at their Khazzator store in downtown Lancaster. For 20 years Chazz worked as a server at Isaac's downtown and Greenfield restaurants, until disabled by a stroke. After that he lived with his mother in Manor Township and, for a time, with his father so Hudson could stay in his Pine Street home. Chazz had one child, his son Czar, whom he loved dearly and with whom he shared many interests. Chazz was a forthright and honest person, quietly compassionate, smart, funny and quick to point out logical fallacies, which earned him the nickname of Mr. Spock. An avid book and comic book collector, Chazz read on a wide variety of subjects, from ants and artists, crime and horror, to Persian love poetry and Mayan civilizations‒and anything by Tolkien. Among his many favorite movies were Humphrey Bogart and Clint Eastwood films and the original Star Trek series. Chazz filled many legal pads with his creative writing. He began each morning by writing stories and poems, some of which were about cats. In a poetic elegy for his cat Vector, Chazz noted that the poem was "for Houdini's Impractical Cats." It seems our cat Houdini was working on a book of cat poems‒with some help from Chazz. Chazz loved to eat, but only what he called "real food." That meant home cooking. His birthday dinners always included brie, avocados, prawns and pound cake (the original, made with only butter, sugar, eggs and flour). Chazz knew how to cook, though he never really took to it, but he made the best macaroons‒the old-fashioned macaroons made from just almond paste, sugar and egg whites. Chazz's sister, father, grandparents and uncles John and David Gleaton predeceased him. Still with us are his mother; son Czar Greene-Cattell; brothers, David and Kevin (Paula Leaman); nieces Paris and Madrid Jaramillo-Cattell (Preston Kilgore) and their dad Juan Jaramillo; nephews Andrew (Amanda Preston) and Timothy Cattell; aunt Harriet Gleaton; cousins Jared, Mayla, Mariah and Astrid Gleaton; and Chazz's dearly beloved cats: Houdini, FurrPurr (aka Dr. Snugglebug), Wednesday and Ghost.

Charles Hudson Cattell

April 18, 1965 - January 28, 2025