March 31, 1933 – July 26, 2015
Charles, Bernard, Bea, Charles Jr., Helen
Charles W. Bartholow, Jr., coffee-drinker, varmint-hater,
suspender-wearer died Sunday July 26, 2015 at the VA Hospital’s Palliative Care
Unit in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Know by many names, Chuck/Chucky B./Chas/Chief, Charles
lived more life in 82 years than most people could live in three
lifetimes. He was a veteran of the
Korean War Era, had mingled with some of the most influential people in the
military world, and contributed to the building of the Lunar Module, but none
of those things were what made him proud. Building his homestead from nothing into a
very unique something, figuring out a formula to compute square root by
longhand, and catching that possum or coon or snake that had been pillaging his
barn made his mouth, covered with his signature white mustache, curl up in a
smile.
Those who knew Chuck will remember the little man with a big
personality, driving his little white truck to and from service calls to fix a
washer or dryer. Those who knew Chuck
well will remember the man who loved to talk for hours, share stories of his
life, and used almost any circumstance to teach a useful lesson. To all of us, we will remember him as one of
the smartest men we’ve ever known.
Survivors include his sister, Bea Johnson of Washington, IA,
brother, Bernard Bartholow and wife Judy of Muscatine, IA, son, Charles T.
Bartholow and wife Linda of Jefferson, IA, daughter, Carla Collins of
Bartlesville, OK, two granddaughters, Celina Johnson and Krisann Draman, and
three great-grandchildren, Jade, Spencer, and Zoey.
There will be no services, per Chuck’s request that upon his
death, we all “get back to work”.
Obituary by Celina Johnson
