Charles Edward Rice (October 5, 1949-October 17, 2008) was an Army veteran of the Vietnam War, a talented musician, and a close friend of Greg Koos, Executive Director emeritus of McLean County Museum of History.
Charles graduated from Bloomington High School in June of 1968, and in 1968 or 1969 he joined the Army. In Vietnam, Charles ended up in Long Bien Jail, a military prison, where he was forced to reenlist. When he eventually got back to the states he and long-time friend Greg Koos started a music commune that became a center for old time folk and bluegrass music, called The Locust Arms.
Charles Rice was a gifted musician, able to play the organ and the fiddle. He traveled as a musician and eventually worked in Cincinnati as an Assistant Director of Communications of Episcopal Diocese.
Charles died at the age of 59 on October 17, 2008 in Fort Thomas, Kentucky.