Charles Clarence Barlow, an architect whose work helped transform the skyline and civic institutions of Jackson over the second half of the 20th century, died on Wednesday, December 3, 2025. Mr. Barlow was born in Jackson in 1930 to Clarence Walter Barlow and Annie Marie Mahaffey Barlow. He is preceded in death 15 years by his high school sweetheart and the love of his life, Rebecca Jacobs Barlow, and his sister Kathryn Barlow Neely of Albuquerque. He was 95.
Charlie Barlow grew up in the city he would later help reshape, graduating from Central High School before attending the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he studied architecture. He served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, where he taught map reading. After returning to Mississippi, he co-founded Barlow and Plunkett, Architect and Engineer in the storage room of his father’s barber shop on Capitol Street. As a result of his tireless work ethic, within a brief period of years Barlow and Plunkett grew to become the largest architecture and engineering firm in Mississippi - a position it held for 20 years.
He was a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, held certification from the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, and served two terms on the Mississippi State Board of Architecture. He was a key driving force in the founding of the Mississippi State University College of Architecture.
Over several decades, Mr. Barlow played a significant role in the construction of numerous prominent Mississippi buildings. Among them are the Walter Sillers State Office Building in downtown Jackson; Highland Village shopping center; multiple academic facilities on the Millsaps College campus; Baptist Hospital and numerous major additions and renovations to St. Dominic’s Hospital; Southern Farm Bureau’s Corporate Headquarters; One Jackson Place; the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine and the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science. These and many more of his buildings continue to serve as central fixtures in Mississippi’s civic, cultural, educational, and commercial life—a testament to his professional accomplishments and his life’s work.
Mr. Barlow was a lifelong member of First Baptist Church of Jackson. His personal life revolved entirely around his family. He and his wife, Rebecca Jacobs Barlow, who died in 2010 after 58 years of marriage, raised their children in Jackson and spent almost all of their weekends together at the family farm in Simpson County. They also traveled widely, cultivating in their children a sense of curiosity about the world. Charles and Becky loved to dance and they loved good food, good wine, and especially loved large family gatherings.
He is survived by four children: Cornelia Ann Barlow Tynes; Charles Clarence Barlow Jr. (Lena); Robert Joseph Barlow (Kelly); and Sarah Elizabeth Barlow Russell (Tommy). He also leaves seven grandchildren—Rebecca Joyce Tynes Reeder (Michael), Katherine Brett Barlow Russell (Stephen), Charles C. Barlow III (Hannah), Robert Beckman Barlow (Logan), Joseph Coleman Barlow (Calan), Thomas Woodrow Russell and William Joseph Russell—and eleven great-grandchildren (with one more expected soon).
