Charles Hosch, a prominent attorney and SMU law professor who went missing while on a hike in the Blood Mountain area of Georgia last year, was remembered at a Sept. 19 memorial service at University Park United Methodist Church.
“Thank God for the life of Charles Martin Hosch. While we may not know where he lies, we know exactly, with full and complete confidence, where he is, and that we will see him and all of our deeply loved cloud of witnesses who wait for us, again on some wonderful day,” Charles’ daughter, Julia, said at the service, which was livestreamed.
According to an obituary for Charles now published in The Dallas Morning News, in addition to his work as an attorney and law professor, Charles taught adult Sunday School classes at University Park United Methodist Church.
Charles, who co-founded the law firm Hosch & Morris and was an adjunct faculty member at SMU’s Dedman School of Law, went missing on Nov. 11, 2025, after heading out for a hike on the Byron Herbert Reece Trail near Blood Mountain in Union County in Georgia.
The Union County Sheriff’s Office paused its active search operations Nov. 25, 2025, pending additional information or clues, but search efforts continued this year, with Charles’ family and colleagues providing updates on the Bring Charles Home website.
The family thanked the first responders and volunteers in his obituary.
“The family extends special thanks to the Emergency Services and Sheriff’s Departments in Union County, Georgia, and the dedicated professional and volunteer forces who participated in the search for Charles and continue to search for him and others,” the obituary read.
Charles is survived by his wife Beth Hosch, his daughters Julia Hosch Singh and Mary Catherine Hosch, his granddaughter Diya Catherine Singh, his brother Heyward Hosch III, and his sister-in-law, Julie Schieve.
The family wrote that donations in Charles’ memory can be made to University Park United Methodist Church (Charles M. Hosch Memorial Fund) or to the SMU Bar Association Fund in Charles’ name. They say the fund will include an explicit provision that professors may use it to buy cookies for class, as Charles brought cookies to class.
