Tough Times Make Tough People

They say things come in threes. Well, I hope not. This week I’ve lost a close friend and a father-in-law and I surely hope it stops there. My good friend Charley Ray died this week at the age of eighty-two. A “townie,” Charley was born and raised on Seekonk Street here in Norfolk, and except for his time in the Army, never lived anywhere else.

Charles was a fine baseball player, and he never lost his love for the game. He was a great pitcher with outstanding stuff. I stopped at his house one day and he was playing catch with one of his boys who soon tired of it, and Charley said, “Grab the glove and we’ll throw a few.” Well he started throwing knuckleballs and after eight or ten bounced off my legs, arms, and chest, I decided that was enough. The stupid thing was coming in and breaking a foot just before it reached me. I really should have had a peach basket trying to catch the bloody thing. And this was when he was in his forties with a bad back.

Charley loved the garden; he was really a farmer at heart. He also loved Norfolk, this goofy little town. We had a lot of good times together, and I think if I had to sum Charley up, it would simply be as a great guy and a great friend.

He also had, without a doubt, the most impish, dry sense of humor you could imagine. It will be tough stopping off some­where and having a cup of coffee without thinking of the old ras­cal. I don’t think I ever met anyone who loved a cup of coffee more than old Charles. Charles, may you rest in peace and real close to a first-class coffee shop, one that’s real cheap.

I also lost my father-in-law on the same day as Charley’s death. Al Babel, who lived in Wrentham, died at the age of ninety-one. The son of Lithuanian immigrants, he was forced to quit school at the age of fifteen and work in the family’s food market upon the death of his father. With the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Al tried to join the Navy but was turned down because he lacked a high school diploma, so in turn he joined the Merchant Marines. Upon his return to civilian life he used his service training to be­come a power plant engineer.

He married Shirley Finch, and as the family grew to four chil­dren, Paul, Albert (Footsie), Betty, and my wife Suzy, he worked two full-time jobs to feed and clothe the brood. But you know, that is what the people who lived through the Great Depression and World War II did. They worked, worked hard, and worked will­ingly. They didn’t go on welfare or seek out government programs or handouts. They did what they had to do to make it, be it grow­ing gardens, hunting, trapping, fishing, or working two jobs. They did whatever was necessary to put food on the table. They didn’t complain, they worked and were thankful for what they had. They also helped one another out; they were good neighbors. And when we were attacked by the Empire of Japan at Pearl Harbor, and when Nazi Germany followed suit by declaring war against the United States, they went to the enlistment centers, enlisted, and went off to war. They truly were the greatest gen­eration, and not like the whiners, layabouts, potheads, and wel­fare sponges of today. Charley and Al were both members of that greatest generation, and we should be both proud and grateful for their contributions; for whatever we have and enjoy today, it was as a result of their struggles and sacrifices. Suzy, my beloved spouse, was looking over my shoulder as I worked on this week’s treatise and said “Things do come in threes,” and handed me a copy of Johanna Hayden’s obituary. Well once again, “Duckie” proved to be 100% correct. Johanna Hayden lived a couple of houses down from us with her husband Pete (who died a few years ago) and their three chil­dren. She was born in Heinrichsdorf, Germany which is in East Prussia. Displaced in 1945 by the oncoming Russian troops, she ended up in Potsdam, which is a suburb of Berlin. She escaped from behind the Iron Curtain and fled to West Germany and then on to the United States where she met Pete, and the rest is history, as they say.

She was very active in the crafts hobby world, and she and Suzy worked together at the Foxboro Crafts Co-op. She was very much a family-oriented lady, a great cook, and a wonderful neigh­bor who will be missed by all. So there we have it folks, things do indeed seem to come in threes.