Sorry if this is a little winded, I don’t usually post things this long, but I
felt the need…I'm sure many of you have similar stories.
It was with shock, almost utter disbelief when I opened the first of a
smattering emails on Christmas eave on the team lists that Charles had passed
away. As I gasped, my wife asked, “what’s wrong” and I had to click on the
link in Randal’s email and view the newspaper article, and there it was in
black and white. Tears well up as I fondly remembered his huge smile when he
saw us at the Coventry inn that evening, after many many years of talking to
him, sometimes having a pint with him as well at Truimphests when he would come
all the way out to the west coast, and telling him that “some day” we would
drive out to Armagh in my little 72 Spitfire, to attend the Summer party (a
truly special event if you have never gone).
4 years ago we decided that it was the year, as we were not getting any
younger, and could still make the 2500+ miles in a tiny 40+ year old car just
to get there. Our trip ended up being a little longer, we stopped in Colorado
to visit with my wife’s sister since it was on the way. We stayed at the
“Wigwam hotels” on route 66 on the way out and ended up also going to Niagara
falls on the Canadian side (hey, we were going that far, why not make an event
out of it). We arrived in the evening on the first day before the party, and
settled into out hotel in town. We decided to go to the Coventry Inn (got lost
trying to find it) to have dinner, since I wanted to see the plaque with my
name on it I had purchased so many years prior, but figured I would never
really see it. We were sitting at a little table, had not ordered dinner yet,
but I did have a pint started and we saw Charles entering the restaurant. He
notices us after saying “hello” to a few guests and gave us a huge smile, and
greeted us. I could see the surprise upon seeing that we had truly, actually
made it. We invited him to our dinner, and after giving us a mini tour, also
showing me the plaque, we sat down and had a wonderful time. We went the next
day to visit The Roadster Factory and he gave us another tour, this time of the
warehouse. You could see the pride as he showed us shelves of NOS parts, and
the mini workshops where some of his parts (like the walnut shift knobs) were
being made right there in the warehouse. Then on the last night, Charles
personally announced, that “one of my old friends from California” had won the
long distance award, and presented it to us (to the slight dismay of another
attendee who thought that this year, he may have finally been the winner) My
cars would not be in the condition they are today had it not been for Charles
and his commitment to originality. I never had to worry about ANYTHING I
purchased from TRF. He always treated you like a friend, not a customer when I
would see him.
I drove that very Spitfire to my family’s Christmas eave gathering in his
memory.
Charles, it is with a heavy heart I say, you will truly be missed…you will
TRULY …be missed_______________________________________________
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