Owen's Birthday

Owen Edward Steldt would have been 3 years old today.

We miss you.

In Memory of Charles Dye, 1922 - 2010

My wife's grandfather, Charlie, passed away this morning. (Jan. 24th, 2010) He was 88 years old.I had the pleasure to get to know him a little bit in the years since I met my wife. I certainly don't claim to have known him well, but I really did like the old man and I think he was pretty fond of me as well. Charlie had a reputation as somebody who could be tough to get along with, but I can't say that I really saw that side of him. I regarded him as a strong, proud man who had lived a full life with a lot of different experiences but who was struggling with the lousy issues associated with getting old. I was interested in his stories about his life and I think he was happy to share them with me.I believe that most people that reach that age don't necessarily see their lives as particularly exceptional. I never got the sense from Charlie that he felt that his life experience was really special in any way. He was probably no different than most of the other people he grew up with and the history he witnessed may not have seemed as exceptional to him as it might to a student of history from a younger generation.

Charlie grew up in Miami before air conditioning. In 1920, the city had only 29,000 residents. By 1930 it had grown to over 110,000, still tiny compared to the sprawling megalopolis it is today. When he was a kid, South Beach was just being developed. Tropical diseases were still common. In fact, Charlie talked to me once about all the diseases that were around when he was a kid. He grew up near a railroad tracks and I believe his father worked in construction.

Charlie served in the Army during World War II and apparently saw quite a bit of action fighting in Italy. He was involved in the famous Battle of Anzio in January, 1944. While I'm sure he saw some pretty heavy fighting, he never really discussed it very much during my conversations with him. Charlie preferred instead to talk about some of the good times he had while serving in Europe. And while he never got too into any specifics I definetely got the sense that he and his friends had some pretty rowdy times. Even though we were technically at war with the Italians, it sounded like the Army was well received by the locals. One of the last times I talked with Charlie he talked about some of the good times they had in both Palermo and in Naples. Wine was cheap, the girls were friendly, and US currency went a long way.

When Charlie got out of the military he settled in the Chicago area. He got a job in the printing industry as a typesetter. I'm not clear on all of the specifics but I believe that this is where he met his wife, Peggy. Charlie and Peggy had two children, Linda and Scott. They raised their family in Des Plaines, northwest of the city and for many years he suffered through a long commute to and from his work because he preferred the more rural setting to the congested urban setting of Chicago. He spent much of his time in the garage tinkering and fixing things. He was always taking in some old broken lawnmower or something and fixing it to resell it. He was always being a very sharp dresser and made an effort to look good all the time. My wife also remembers him as having a distinctive smell consisting of a combination of Irish Spring soap and Drakar Noir cologne.

I believe he worked in that business in the Chicago area for on the order of 40 years. During that whole time, he could never get used to the cold weather or the long drive and he always looked forward to retiring back in Florida. After he finally left he printing business he got the chance. He and Peggy lived at several addresses, first in Englewood and later on in Venice. Bree and I visited them at their townhome in Venice shortly after we lost Owen. They were very gracious with us during the afternoon we spent with them. I think Peggy served ribs she had brought back from Publix, which is the grocery store she was working for at the time. Charlie took me in his room and showed me his computer and some of the things he was did with the computer and pulled up some area maps off the internet. He was already moving very slow at the time and I remember really appreciating the fact that he was using the technology, but at the same time I wanted to grab the mouse and keyboard away from him because he was taking so long to do anything.

Charlie was always very interested in technology. He was what marketing people call an 'early-adopter'. Bree recalls that when she was very little Charlie had taped The Wizard of Oz for her and her sister off of a very early early video recorder. The only problem was that when they got it home they couldn't watcy the video because neither they or any of their friends had a VCR on which to play it. Within a week of his death, Charlie was still checking his email and forwarding jokes, many of which I still have saved in my inbox.

Things unfortunately didn't work out quite as well as he and Peggy had hoped. The pension plan into which he had been paying for the past several decades had some serious problems and they were unable to retire with the type of income that they had expected. Both he and Peggy were compelled to take jobs and work through their seventies. She worked a variety of jobs waiting tables and later at the local grocery store in the bakery. Charlie followed his passion and landed a job at a golf club. This was not exactly hardship duty for him. In fact he apparently really loved working at the club. He was happy to spend much of his time out on the golf course. He also loved to be around all of the various birds that are found in Florida. Bree has remarked at how well he was able to identify the many varieties he would point out when they were out together. In recent years he had several medical proceedures to remove skin cancers from his head. He had always had sensitive skin and made sure to cover up with a hat and long sleeve shirt when going out in the daytime. I suspect that spending all of the time outside doing what he wanted probably did him a lot more good than harm in the long run.

I first met Charlie and Peggy over Christmas one year when Bree and I went to stay at a condo Bree's folks had rented in Myrtle Beach. Charlie and Peggy had made the drive up from Florida and I think that they had taken quite a while to do it. I think that must have been in about 2004 and even then Peggy was doing most of the driving. Charlie was still walking well enough though to get out and walk on the beach.

The last big trip Charlie took was when he and Peggy came to our wedding in Estes Park. I know that they had a great time when they were here and we were grateful that they were able to make the trip. My grandparents were all gone by the time we got married which, to me, reinforced the importance of their being able to be there. The day before the wedding I drove Tim and Charlie from Estes Park over the Trail Ridge Road to Grand Lake. We had lunch at a little cafe there in town before driving back. It was a beautiful day to do the trip. I think Charlie had a really nice time. It had been a long time since he had been in the mountains and unfortunately it would be his last time.

Charlie had the good fortune to be able to meet his great grandson, Owen, when we travelled to Florida over Easter weekend in 2007. Those were very happy times. I know he was very proud of Owen. He was very happy to have a great grandson. And when we lost Owen, I believe he took it hard, as well. We all had a good time during that weekend which left some very good memories with me. I remember Owen having some goofy Easter rabbit ears that Bree got for him and he had to endure wearing them while pictures were taken. It was very cute and Owen, as usual, was a good sport.

Charlie first met his great granddaughter, Rachel, when we took her down to visit them in the Villages last February. By that time he had Peggy had moved into a small house in the Villages so that they could be closer to their daughter, Linda and her husband Tim. From that time forward, as both Charlie and Peggy's health deteriorated, Linda and Tim spent a great deal of time with them visiting and helping out. Charlie became less and less mobile and was not always able to care for himself. There were instances when he fell down at night and had to have Tim come over in the morning to help him back up. Peggy became too weak to help him up. Even during these difficult times over the past year I don't think Charlie lost very much mentally although at times my understanding is that he could be dificult to get along with.

A few weeks ago Bree and I went down to Florida for a visit. Charlie and Peggy were both staying at the Arbor Village Rehab Center. Charlie had suffered a bout of phemonia over Christmas and never fully recovered. His health appeared to improve a little after he got out of the hospital, but he suffered a tremendous amount of fluid buildup as a result of the congestive heart failure he was suffering. He was clearly very uncomfortable.

The day before I left I went to see him in the afternoon after Bree and I returned from our night in Cedar Key. Tim and I found him sleeping but we decided not to wake him. Charlie had been complaining of not being able to get any sleep. So we let him be. It made me sad, though, because as I stood in the room looking down on him I knew that it would probably be the last time I would ever see him.

Charles Dye lived a long and productive life. I can't imagine that what I have written here would begin to do him justice. So for anyone who knew Charlie who happens to read this, I invite you to please leave any comments or recollections in the comments section here.