Remembering Charlie Wisecup

Posted

Note: This is the second in a two-part series honoring the late Charlie Wisecup. The first was published in last week’s Missouri Valley Times-News.

The memories remain forever’

“The day I heard (Charlie) gained his wings, I was shocked at first,” said Eric Rodasky, who worked for Charlie Wisecup for more than 20 years and knew him for more than 30. “I was in mourning, but yet I thought of all the memories we shared and the life that he lived.”

One of those memories was in the works for a full generation.

First meeting Charlie when he was 2 or 3 years of age, as his father and uncle worked for him, Rodasky remembers riding in the combine with Charlie when he was about 7 or 8 years old. Harvesting wheat north of Texaco, Rodasky also had the opportunity to get behind the steering wheel with Charlie’s assistance.

Years later, a bit of deja vu took place as Rodasky’s son had nearly the same exact opportunity.

“There’s a picture of Charlie and my son on a tractor. I’m proud of that picture, not only because I see Charlie and my son, but effectively I’m seeing me on that tractor having some memories come back,” Rodasky said. “That’s Charlie’s first tractor, we’ve been working on it, now Marcus is on there with Charlie and he’s driving that tractor. It just means a lot to me right there.”

Another longtime friend of Charlie’s, Lyle McIntosh, who knew Charlie for over 60 years, remembers the self-propelled ear picker that he and Charlie often had to get running again after frequent breakdowns.

According to McIntosh, that’s how he found out Charlie was the superior mechanic.

“In fact, as our frustration grew with each breakdown, we each had our own naughty names for that machine,” McIntosh said. “Eventually that machine was replaced with a much improved diesel model and our language improved, as well.”

Fred Blum first met Charlie while he was working as a salesman for Case IH in 1985. Charlie was trying to buy a tractor, and he wrote a check for how much he’d offer for it.

Blum told Charlie his offer was too low, which inspired a memorable reaction.

“He took the check out, took his lighter and burned it,” Blum said. “He said, ‘We’re all done.’ He was joking more than anything else, and we were friends after that.”

Annual trips to the Lake of the Ozarks provided many great memories, too. Blum was along for those, and so was another friend in Bob Hansen.

Hansen was four years younger than Charlie, and didn’t really get to know him until after high school. Charlie and his wife Julie were part of the same car club and square dancing group as Hansen and his wife, along with several other couples, and trips to the Ozarks helped Hansen to get to know Charlie even better.

Hansen was able to watch the original group that vacationed in Missouri grow and grow over the years.

“The first year down there, a lot of people were riding jet skis, but you had to rent them,” he said. “Charlie and I thought we’d buy one and have our own the next time we went down. They had a sale, if you buy one you get the next one half price, so we each bought one. We went down with those jet skis, and more people kept coming, then more people kept coming, and pretty soon there were 14 jet skis in our bunch down there.”

“We’d get up early and go out for breakfast every morning then ride the jet skis,” Blum recalled about the trips. “Real calm water, leave at 7 o’clock. If you weren’t there at 7:05, we were gone. It was just the rule. You don’t wait for anybody, and everybody got tuned into that. They were there 20 minutes early getting the stuff ready to go.”

There were plenty of other traditions that Charlie stuck to, as well.

For example, quitting time was at 6 p.m. on Saturday nights, as that was dance night for Charlie and Julie.

And in the hours leading up to that, it was best to leave the radio tuned exactly where Charlie wanted.

“Saturday morning, you didn’t touch the radio in his truck or any other truck because it had to be on AM 540 out of Fort Dodge,” Rodasky said. “He liked the old country music, and if you turned the radio your day was done. You had all the dirty jobs. That was how it was; you did not turn that radio off of AM 540.”

That love of dancing and country music followed Charlie wherever he went. McIntosh described Charlie and Julie as “the perfect match” no matter where they were on the map, and just over a week before Charlie’s passing was no different.

Each winter, Charlie and Julie would vacation in Arizona, but Charlie stayed in touch with friends and family back home. Staying in touch also meant taking calls while having a good time in dance halls.

“I last spoke to Charlie eight days before he passed away, and when I got him on the phone it was quite noisy in the background,” McIntosh said. “I asked where the heck he was at and what was all that noise and he said that they were in the country dance hall. I said it was 3 p.m. in the afternoon and they were supposed to do that stuff at night. He replied that it didn't apply to them as they did country dance halls day and night. That was Charlie.”

Hansen said he’d miss the simple visits he had with Charlie. For the last few years, a small group that was started by Charlie would meet on Saturday mornings to have some coffee and talk about the events of the day. Now, Charlie is the second in that group to have passed away and one is in a nursing home.

Blum, who is also a part of that group, said he’d miss it when he would drive by the Wisecup Farm Museum and stop in if he saw Charlie’s pickup.

“Charlie is one friend that, if you’re friends you’re friends for life,” Blum said. “It’s tough to let good friends go, but the memories remain forever.”

A bright light’

Within all of those memories with Charlie, whether they be amusing or meaningful, there were often life lessons to be taken away.

“Charlie was always a bright light, truly a character that would be impossible to replicate,” McIntosh said. “The old saying, ‘they broke the mold’ truly applied to Charlie… A great family man and community man who was comprised of the sort of glue that helps hold communities together.”

That glue was something Charlie often tried to help others find in their own lives.

Rodasky was first offered a job by Charlie when he was 13 years old. After graduating from high school, Charlie told Rodasky to try and do something else, but if he ever needed something to fall back on Charlie would be there for him.

There were times where Rodasky got laid off or was going through a tough stretch, and Charlie kept his word by having him work on a machine, move machinery around the museum or even do something as simple as mowing.

While working for Charlie, Rodasky learned just as much about life as he did anything else. One example came after he got married and had kids, when something Charlie said really stuck with him.

“You see this conglomerate of wires on this tractor?” Rodasky recalls Charlie asking. “Think of your life as a mess that way.”

“I can see, because you don’t know where this or that is going,” Rodasky responded.

“First thing we do is disconnect the power source. Go over to that box, give me those wire cutters and we’re gonna clean all of this up. We’re gonna simplify it. Simplify your life and start over. Then you really know what your problems are,” Charlie advised.

“You’re troubleshooting on the tractor, but you’re also troubleshooting on your life,” Rodasky said about that instance. “Ever since he told me that, there's been times I turn to it for advice or something to go by.”

There were plenty of occasions where Charlie would see someone out to eat who was down on their luck, and he’d pick up the check to help them out. If someone was going through an issue in their life, he’d often invite them to come work for him for half a day and he would take care of it for them.

On the surface it seemed like Charlie was just trying to get people to help him with different projects, but he often had a deeper motive.

“After you’d do it it’s like, he suckered me into doing some work, but on the flip side he kind of paid my therapy bill, too,” Rodasky said. “The shop wasn’t just a place where we fixed equipment; we kind of fixed each other there.”

Blum also recalled several young people that Charlie would take in and show how to work, and he straightened quite a few of them out, as well.

Describing Charlie as someone who had “a heart of gold,” Blum said there were many times Charlie would declare he was buying breakfast for everyone. Attempts could be made to try and pay it back, but that was a tough thing to do.

On the other hand, Charlie’s good nature and joking spirit often left others as the butt of his jokes, with McIntosh admitting it was something he became used to, but everyone knew that if Charlie picked on you it meant he liked you.

“Charlie made the word 'fun,’ Blum said. “It was always fun to be around him.”

A celebration of life will be held on Sunday, April 2 at Wishing Hills Barn from 1 to 5 p.m. In lieu of flowers, memorials will be designated by the family at a later time. All are welcome to come with a memory of Charlie to write down in the family’s memory book.