Today my dear Uncle Charles Curley passed away at the age of 88 in Richmond, Virginia. The oldest of eight kids he is pictured above in what is a classic, and favorite, photo of mine. It should have been around the early 1940's when it was taken. The young lady on the left is none other than my mother, Pat (Mema), still alive and well and caring for her devoted husband, all her children and grandchildren.Uncle Charles (or Choo Choo as he was known to his own grandchildren, and great grandchildren) was a very interesting, funny, fellow and was dearly loved. About a year ago I had the opportunity to photograph Charles and spend some time with him in his home. Having landed on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day +1 his stories of the war run deep. His memory of that time culminated in a book he published years ago which is a fascinating read. It was also during this time in France that he learned to drive steam locomotives and his love for trains never diminished. Charles was very active in Richmond for a man his age and will be very missed by his family and friends.
You can see my earlier blog post here: Tribute To My Uncle
Read his obituary here: Richmond Times Dispatch
Sign his guest book here: Guest Book
We love you Uncle Charles. May you rest in peace.
You were a very cool guy. Thanks for serving our country...and for being my Uncle.
.jpg)
Posts
Daniel,
ReplyDeleteThis is your second cousin Trish, here. Charles, Margaret, your mom et al. were first cousins to my Dad - John Powers. I may have last seen you at the 1995 family reunion. Anyway, I work in DC and my Aunt Mary (my mom's sister) lives in Richmond and gets all the updates. She knew Charlie well and volunteered with him at the hospital.
Anyway, Aunt Mary had been sending me updates and I received the news this morning. I was so very sad to hear this, as Charlie was one of my all time favorite people. I think he loved that I went into the Air Force, and when I was last in Richmond (in 2005) we had a several great visits. I even got a chance to see Ann Catherine.
I'm writing - even though I almost never comment on blogs - because this was so wonderful to find when I googled his name for a mailing address for Charles. This came up next. It is such a delight to see these pictures; my brothers and sisters and I have many fond memories of being at the house - Grandma ("Aunt Mary") Powers playing the piano, and Charles telling stories or showing us the trains. My dad passed away 6 weeks ago, so I'd like to think these good ole Richmond boys and cousins are having a grand time together in the fullness of God's presence.
Peace -
Trish Powers
Anne & I completely subscribe to all the nice things anyone could say about Charles Curley. I so regret that we lost touch with him and all of you after we left the neighborhood and moved to Goochland (www.ordinary.com explains it all), but he was in our thoughts as recently as a month ago when I suggested to Anne that we make our periodic drive past where she used to live and take note whether the train signal house lamp was still there.
ReplyDeleteHe is so fortunate to have a photographer like you in the family to record those great images. Looks like he was pretty happy when you took those, so typical of him. I don't think we ever saw him without a smile available.
Kindest regards,
(Anne &) Jim Hardwick
Maidens, VA
Thank you both for your wonderful comments.
ReplyDelete