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Tim Terpening uploaded photo(s)
Thursday, November 2, 2023
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Such a large family and from what I've seen all of you hard working and productive! I guess I would pat Lanny and Charlie on the backs and say well done! I remember when they were high school sweethearts. I was just a little kid. And while I lived in Cortland, like my brother John says, we loved the farm so much we spent a lot of time there and fell into working along with everyone else. There wasn't anybody who didn't work and there wasn't anybody who wasn't pretty rugged, including ourselves.
I guess I should speak for myself when I say it didn't seem like work.
At the end of the day we all looked forward to going to some swimming hole somewhere and washing off the sweat. The end of the day would be after the evening milking maybe around eight o'clock. Charlie would usually drive us out the the pond on the tractor. One time he took us out to some creek I don't know where. We were diving in and having fun when he dove off the ledge doing some suicide dive with his hands at his sides and diving head first and I saw him come up holding his head.
That time he had to go over the Dr. Kelly's and get stitches to close up the long gash in his skull. He had a stiff neck for a week. My father took him over to the hospital in the back of our 1964 Dodge Dart station wagon and I think he went through a few red lights like an ambulance would. It was pretty exciting but none of us thought anything very serious could ever happen to Charlie. This was just the way he had to have fun. I'm pretty sure he was out milking the cows the next morning at 5:30 as usual. He might have had a neck brace for a stiff neck, but I'm not remembering that part.
There was a time when Jimmy and I were riding on a silage wagon and letting ourselves get buried under the silage. We usually lay down in the silage and let the blower cover us up and we’d stayed down until we were on the verge of suffocation and were maybe going to pass out. Then one of us would dig out the other. It was real fun to get to that point where you begin to feel the sheer weight of the silage on you and that you might actually suffocate. It was a lot like climbing to the top of the silo and jumping down into the silage after it was first blown in there and it was soft. There was a moment in mid flight when you wondered if things were going to work out.
But when the tractor stopped and the chopper was clogged we watched as Charlie opened the back of the blower and started digging out the clog. Dick Rood had come up on the hill with his Harley or whatever it was. And he was there turning the flywheel, rocking it back and forth, while Charlie had hold of the blower blades and was reefing on it with his hands pulling up and pulling up and there were reefing and turning on the blower to get the clog out.
But then the clog got freed up all of a sudden and the blade went on up and the next blade came up under his arms and drove his arms up into the actual fixed cutting blade. I imaging this blade was pretty sharp and it didn't take much for it to cut his wrist to the bone.
I was standing there still in the wagon watching all this when he came out from under the shoot holding his wrist saying, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!" I saw things sticking up from this wound that I wish I had never seen.
Dick saw it and yanked out his red bandana and made a tourniquet. "I don't mind cutting myself," he said, "But I hate like hell to cut anybody else!"
But of course how could Dick be at fault? It was Charlie who didn't yank his hand out in time. I mean you gotta figure there's going to be another blade there. I always remember this and it reminds me to not put my hands into places like that. On the other hand how exactly is it going to get unclogged unless somebody unclogs it?
So Dick runs Charlie down to the house and in the process of holding onto the Harley of course Charlie draws the tendons up his arm so that Doc Kelly (who knows him pretty well now) has to cut nearly up to his elbow to find them so he can reattach them. Is my memory playing tricks on me or did he really use wire to refasten them? I always try not to think about this part.
So Charlie comes home with a cast of sorts nearly up to his elbow and then, of course, he’s just in time to go out and milk the cows. Which didn't seem all that strange to me. I mean, I would expect no less from Charlie. The only troubling thing was I wondered how in the world could he ever keep his cast clean after it's been milking cows?
My only part of milking cows was carrying 5 gallon buckets to the milk house. I always carried 2 of them and you could be guaranteed if Charlie filled them they'd be full to the everlasting brim. He filled them so full they nearly spilled over before I ever touched them. I mean I had to be perfect in every move and on every step of the stairs and perfect in pouring them or else there would have been pools of spilled milk everywhere. I swear if you give me two 5 gallon buckets full of anything full to the brim I'll carry them anywhere you want me to and there won't be a drop spilled. I could beat any kid in my class at arm wrestling and they just couldn't figure out how I could do it. The only kid who ever picked a fight with me was in the ninth grade and he himself ended up going to see Dr. Kelly.
And although I don’t know this as a fact, I would wager a bet there wasn’t any kid in Charlie’s school who’d ever dare to pick a fight with him.
There was another thing Charlie liked to do. This was just pure mean. Uncle Floyd would run the hay baler filling the wagons. There were maybe three wagons on the hill. Charlie went with the tractor and got a wagon full and brought it down and then would empty it and put the bales on the elevator. And Jimmy and I would be up in the haymow to take the bales off and stack them. Sometimes there was Jeanine and sometimes even Betty to help, but I remember when I was there it was usually Jimmy and me.
But Charlie, he was unbelievable. Somehow he had a system where he could unload the bales so fast he put them on the elevator one touching the next, and they would come up and drop down on us. It was like it was raining hay bales down! And we scurried around trying to get at them so as to be finished stacking by the time he finished unloading, but that was never to be. It was as if he did his best to see that we stayed busy while he ambled up the hill to get another wagon and by the time we heard the tractor coming again we'd only had maybe a couple of minutes to rest. You talk about dusty and hot? I mean Charlie had the wide open air and he got to ride the tractor up and down the hill. But us stackers, we actually thought that place was about as close as you’ll ever get to Hell on earth!
Anytime I had to unload the wagons I never could load the bales like that on the elevator, but I sure tried. It would have been real sweet to have Charlie up in the haymow and me unloading the bales like he did. It was on of my fantasies.
On the other hand, I used to rib Charlie about how slow he was unloading wagons. “Can’t you do it faster? What takes you so long?”
Pretty soon Charlie started getting shorter and I started getting too tall to walk down the barn aisle without ducking. Or was it the barn that was sagging?
I guess it was about then that I stopped staying over at the farm. Anyway, they had got a new milk house and a milk station that carried the milk by hose to the bulk tank. My services carrying milk were not needed anymore, which frankly I missed. But I'm sure they didn't miss it. I'm pretty sure a lot of the things I found fun weren't all that fun to them. But in retrospect I think Charlie did enjoy it.
I only have two pieces of advice for his family, especially the youngsters. 1) Don't think for one second that time passes slowly, although it might seem to. It'll be gone in a blink of an eye, so make good used of your time. And 2) Don't despair about losing him because you haven't. You're soon going to find out that he hasn't left you but will forever be closer to you. Not only that, his spirit will begin to be a whole new kind of guide for you. Maybe a third thing -- just always remember how fortunate you've been to have had a father and grandfather and such a mom and grandmother as Lanny and all the orbiting clan you've been able to enjoy. There's a lot of children that don't know what that's like . . . and extremely few kids today have a clue what it's like to have spent real serious time on a working farm. Maybe every one of us oughta be in a museum.
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John Terpening posted a condolence
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
My cousin Charlie was a few years older than me and most of my memories of him surround the times when Uncle Floyd would ask for help on the farm during haying season. This began when I was ten or twelve, so during those few weeks during the summer Charlie became the older brother Jimmy and I looked up to. There was a lot to admire about Charlie. He was handsome and had muscles. I hoped I could look like that someday. He worked hard and expected the same from anyone doing chores whether you were a city slicker like me or not, but his sense of humor made the hard work fun.
He operated every piece of equipment on that
farm with a sort of ease. His dad trusted him with everything. His skills with machinery wasn't limited to farm equipment either. Uncle Floyd had an old Harley Davidson up in the barn and Charlie dusted it off and began riding it around. It was not an easy motorcycle to ride with the shifter on the tank and the kick starter was ready to throw you over the handlebars, and it did to a few who dared to start it. Charlie was completely at home on that bike.
Jimmy and I had to herd the cows and bring them back from the fields in time for milking. Sometimes progress was a little too slow. Charlie would ride that beast out into the fields and herd cows just as if it were a horse. Later, when we all took to riding dirt bikes, I happen to be trying to keep up with Charlie on mine as we raced through the woods. There was no catching him. It was the same with snowmobiles, he just naturally took to everything that had a motor and he liked to go fast.
As the oldest son he took his responsibility seriously and protected that farm. Sometimes as the city slicker (a term Uncle Floyd liked to use), I wasn't always the best influence on Jimmy. One day the idea of smoking got into our heads and we got a hold of a cigarette and took it up into the hayloft with some matches. Well, Charlie caught us red handed. I thought for sure he would march us into the house and turn us over to Uncle Floyd. Instead he lined Jimmy and I up and dressed us up and down for our stupidity, and the danger of fire in a barn full of hay, and what that would mean to everyone. I felt terrible for what I had done and expected he would tell Uncle Floyd, I would never be invited back to the farm, and worse Charlie would never speak to me again. That never happened. When he was done yelling at us he never brought up the subject again. I learned two things that day, but the biggest was an enduring respect for my cousin Charlie and I loved him for it. He will be missed here on earth, but what a reunion there is in heaven right now .
John Terpening
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Patti Zering posted a condolence
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Charlie was truly one of a kind! He touched so many lives. He will be sorely missed
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Amee Harris posted a condolence
Monday, October 30, 2023
The Peck family, we are very sorry for your loss. Our prayers are with you. God Bless.
Anna White,Burkie Harris,Edward Harris
And Families
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Doug Wilcox posted a condolence
Monday, October 30, 2023
I did business with the Peck family for years and knew them all well. Charlie was a terrific person, a good farmer and family man. I offer my condolences to the family. Doug Wilcox
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Jim Weiss posted a condolence
Monday, October 30, 2023
I have known Charlie since Danelle was my student in McGraw HS. My and Charlie’s paths crossed in many other ways since then. Each time I enjoyed our conversations about all manner of things, in which he was always well informed, articulate, and insightful - and always sprinkled with that humor and twinkle in his eye.
Jim Weiss
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Megan uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
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When the world seemed unkind or unfair you were the kindness I needed most. I’m thankful for you and all of the love you shared. Until we meet again Gramps.
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Michele P uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
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Gramp & Squeak ~ an unbreakable bond
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Michele, Jason, Bella (& Lace) P uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
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Thank you for being such an amazing dad, loving grandpa, and a mentor for so many of us throughout our lives. The impact you've made will never fade.
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Buster Underwood uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
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One of thee greatest men I have ever known. He was like my second dad taught me so much!
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Wes Chamberlain lit a candle
Saturday, October 28, 2023
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May you rest in the arms of God. You were a candle in my life.
Wes and Betty Chamberlain.
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Jodi Peck uploaded photo(s)
Saturday, October 28, 2023
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So blessed to have been welcomed into the Peck family 25 years ago.. I could not have asked for better people to be my in-laws. Always so accepting and willing to jump in and always help out. Charles will be so very missed…. ❤️
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Cynthia Vuille posted a condolence
Saturday, October 28, 2023
My husband and I moved to Freetown from Connecticut to farm and I remember Charlie and his family as the nicest people to have as neighbors. My condolences and may he Rest In Peace. Cynthia Vuille
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Alta Waltz uploaded photo(s)
Friday, October 27, 2023
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I am forever thankful for the time and love he gave to us. Gramp, I love and appreciate you more than I could ever express. Thank you for being our hero.
Love,
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Dannele Peck uploaded photo(s)
Friday, October 27, 2023
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I feel incredibly lucky to have had so many great adventures with my Dad--from our time together on the farm when I was a kid, to our many excursions together as adults. He was always up for exploring new places and learning new things. He taught me to stay curious and kind. Thank you, Dad. May you rest easy...or explore endlessly if you so desire!
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The family of Charles James Peck uploaded a photo
Friday, October 27, 2023
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