Charles "Charlie" Aaron Aponick's Obituary
Charles Aaron Aponick, 11 ½ years old, of Gainesville, Florida passed away peacefully on Friday, October 17, 2025, after a hard-fought 6 ½ year battle with an aggressive form of medulloblastoma.
“Charlie” (named after his paternal great-grandfather) was born on March 4, 2014, in Gainesville, FL to his loving parents, Amy and Aaron, and became the best little brother to his older sister, Ellie.
Charlie was a member of Queen of Peace Catholic Church and was in the 6th grade at Queen of Peace Catholic Academy, attending from pre-K onward. His health struggles started the very last month of his pre-K year, so his entire elementary career was affected by health issues, including the Covid pandemic, yet he persevered and was an excellent student in a very loving, faithful, and supportive environment.
Despite the struggles he faced, he loved school, and he loved learning. However, if you asked him what his favorite subjects were, he would always say PE and lunch.
He was an exceptional safety patrol officer in 5th grade and took his responsibilities very seriously. He particularly loved helping the younger children and proudly wore his patrol belt.
Charlie was also an alumnus of Baby Gator, the University of Florida’s early childhood learning center, where he was so loved by the staff during his early years and made many people laugh and smile. Affectionately referred to as Char-Char, Charlie Bo-Barley, or in his early days, Jaws, due to a short-lived propensity to bite his friends, taking after his older sister. He loved going on all of the field trips around campus and especially walking across the street with the “rainbow rope” and looking for alligators in Lake Alice.
Outside of school, Charlie loved sports. He played t-ball, baseball, soccer, flag football and golf; some before his illness but most of his sports experiences occurred after his diagnosis, even during active treatments. Nothing phased him. There were many times where he would have a chemotherapy appointment in the morning and head straight to a game later that evening.
In recent years, he played on the Saints recreational soccer team with many school friends through the Gainesville Soccer Alliance. Charlie was fearless. At one point he asked his coach if he could try out the goalie position for a few games. He spent the most time playing baseball with the Gatorball recreational baseball program as part of the Auburn Tigers (for non-Gainesville folks, Gatorball uses SEC schools to name their teams). His Auburn Tigers teammates and coaches were special…they were the only people allowed to call him “Chuck.”
Aside from organized sports, he also was a member of the unofficial Abbey Glen subdivision sports league where he and his neighborhood friends would go from house to house almost every day after school and on weekends playing all types of sports and games, especially during Covid times.
In addition to playing sports, he also loved to watch them. Growing up in Gainesville, and being an alumnus of Baby Gator, he of course loved his Florida Gators, specifically cheering on the baseball and football teams. However, he also cheered for Michigan and Georgia Tech for mom and dad and proudly wore that gear. During the Brady years, he was a big Tampa Bay Bucs fan and was even Tom Brady for Halloween one year. In recent years, he really enjoyed watching Major League Soccer and had no qualms about wearing pink to show his love for Messi. He also loved Major League Baseball and took a liking to the Dodgers, Yankees, and Phillies with the Dodgers being his favorite. He loved watching Shohei Ohtani hit home runs; how fitting that the Dodgers will be going to the World Series again this year.
When he wasn’t watching or playing sports, he was most likely watching anything and everything Star Wars or playing video games, which he did quite well. He aspired to be a video game designer and would have been exceptional at it. Minecraft and Fortnite were his favorite games, and he loved playing with his friends online (sometimes they were all yelling). He also loved playing with his dad and would get in some heated battles.
Charlie had a lot of favorite things. He couldn’t get through the toy section of Target without spending a significant amount of time perusing all the Star Wars toys, Lego sets, and Nerf Guns. He loved You Tube, specifically Dude Perfect, Turbo Toy Time, Sneak Attack Squad, Mr. Beast and Ali A…these helped tremendously during extended hospital stays. He was a “sneaker collector” (his words) and loved hoodies. He was a regular at Chuy’s Tex Mex restaurant where he loved their bean burritos and creamy jalapeño dip and he kept Starbucks in business with frequent requests for Pink Drinks or Refreshers.
His health care experiences were very influential to his life since he spent so much time at the hospital and being treated in outpatient clinics. His stuffed bulldog, Butch, and his wooden cross were almost always with him for procedures and were well-known by the staff. His Minions Fart Blaster was also a source of comic relief during some rough hospital stays along with some epic light saber battles and sword fights with the staff. Charlie was always so polite and respectful to his medical team and was so cooperative with whatever was asked of him. He never complained. He truly loved all the nurses, doctors, therapists, and everyone else that took care of him. He also enjoyed meeting other patients and would include them in his bedtime prayers.
He loved his family dearly, both immediate and extended. Charlie was very close to his sister, Ellie, and sat through many a recital or Nutcracker performance without too much complaining. He may have had his iPad to help keep him occupied, but he was always so proud to see his sister on stage. He was a mama’s boy for sure and loved spending time with her, regardless of what they were doing. He loved playing video games with his dad and having him help coach his baseball team. He also loved family vacations, especially beach trips to Anna Maria Island and theme parks, specifically Galaxy’s Edge at Disney. He loved seeing his extended family, especially when Uncle Robbie and Aunt Julie would come visit and have Nerf battles with him. He also loved trips to Pennsylvania to see Uncle Ryan, Aunt Rachel and his cousins. His grandparents were so very special to him. Charlie loved going to Gabby’s house, playing with old toys and having her delicious grilled cheese and he was so excited when Pop Pop and Grammie Lin would come visit so they could do art and pottery together.
Every day was a gift. Charlie got the chance to be a little boy and had some amazing experiences along the way. When he was diagnosed, the phrase “Fight Like a Jedi” became his mantra and every day we reminded him to “Be Strong.” Through all of this, he certainly was a Super Charlie, and he will be sorely missed by everyone who knew him.
Charlie is survived by his father Aaron, his mother Amy, his sister Ellie, maternal grandmother Debbie Underwood “Gabby”, paternal grandparents John and Linda Aponick “Pop Pop and Grammie Lin,” aunts, uncles, cousins, and dear friends. He is preceded in death by his maternal grandfather Losson Underwood.
Everyone is welcome for a celebration of his life with a funeral mass on Saturday, October 25, 2025, at 12pm at Queen of Peace Catholic Church 10900 SW 24th Avenue Gainesville, FL 32607.
Visitation from 10:00am – 11:30am
(in the small chapel on the west side of the church)
Funeral Mass at 12:00pm
(in the main church)
Reception immediately following the mass in the St. Joseph Family Life Center adjacent to the church.
For those who wish, donations in Charlie's honor may be made to Phoebe Louise Dooley Foundation, https://phoebelouisedooley.org/, Ronald McDonald House Charities, https://ronaldmcdonaldhouse.org/donate, or UF Pediatric Cancer Immunotherapy Research Fund, https://www.uff.ufl.edu/giving-opportunities/000737-uf-health-cancer-center/.
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