Charles F Giese

Lake Crystal Mortuary
648 S. Main Street
Lake Crystal, MN 56055
(507) 726-6161

Charles F. "Chuck" Giese, age 88, of Lake Crystal, died peacefully on Saturday, July 12, 2014 at Crystal Seasons Living Community in Lake Crystal, where he resided for the past year.

Funeral Service will be held at 2:00 p.m., Wednesday, July 16, 2014 at Northview - North Mankato Mortuary, 2060 Commerce Drive, North Mankato. Visitation will be held from 4-7 p.m., Tuesday at Lake Crystal Mortuary, 648 S. Main St., Lake Crystal and will continue one hour before service at Northview - North Mankato Mortuary on Wednesday. Burial will be in Lake Crystal Cemetery.

Charles F. "Chuck" Giese was born in Amboy, Minnesota on February 27, 1926 to Ed J. and Zella (Chamberlain) Giese. He was the youngest of four children and his siblings were all girls - Elaine, Ezurina and Hazel. His father hailed from Tennessee and met and married Chuck's mother on March 17, 1916. Ed worked at a variety of jobs, from farming to delivering goods via horse-drawn wagon to managing the City of Amboy's water plant and Chuck was right there with him. At an early age, it became obvious that something was causing young Chuck to limp. This was extremely difficult for a young boy to handle, for it was painful and seriously restricted his activity. It also made him the brunt of jokes and that treatment at the hands of his peers challenged him, playing an important role in his early development. His parents initially thought his limp might be due to a bicycle accident but upon examination, a doctor diagnosed the problem as Von Perth's Disease, which affected the development of his hip joint. Chuck was taken to Children's Hospital in St. Paul for treatment, spending a year in traction, where he was essentially isolated from family and friends the whole time due to the cost and difficulty of traveling to visit him. Chuck had life-long memories of that ordeal and unfortunately, traction was ineffective in arresting the deterioration of his hip. Nevertheless, he was driven to overcome this problem and make something of himself.

His mechanical skills were obvious, even in his youth, and he entered the Army/Air Force on July 11, 1944 at age 18 as a PFC and a welder, working in the shipyards for the war effort and serving in the South Pacific. He was a recipient of the Meritorious Service Award and received a letter of commendation from then-President Harry S. Truman. He was honorably discharged on March 21, 1946 and returned home to Amboy, where he married his sweetheart, Gloria ("Old Glory", as he called her) Schneeberger at the Willow Creek Lutheran Church on October 17, 1948. That union produced four children, multiple grandchildren and great grandchildren and spanned nearly 65 years.

Shortly after they were married, Chuck and Gloria moved to nearby Winnebago, where he continued to hone his arc welding skills by working for a small repair shop. Their first child, Kenneth Charles, was born there in a small home that served as the community's hospital. It wasn't long before Chuck moved his family back to Amboy, where he opened his own welding and repair shop. Eventually, the pain in his hip became so severe that doctors recommended a hip fusion . . . the only option available to him at the time. Consequently, he closed his shop and following the operation, he was in full leg cast for almost six months and got around on crutches. Following his recovery, Chuck and Gloria moved to Minneapolis where he found employment with a metal fabricating business, but not before their second child, Joan Ellen ("Joni") came along. Chuck quickly realized that the "big city" was not the place for him and he decided to make another attempt at opening his own business. By this time, their third child, Roger Wayne, had joined the family.

In 1957, they located a repair shop that was for sale in Lake Crystal, a small community not far from their childhood home of Amboy and still in Blue Earth County. It was unique in that there was a very small two-bedroom apartment built above the shop, which would provide both lodging and livelihood for the family. It was one block from "downtown" and one block from the community's public school. Chuck's Repair Shop opened its doors in the autumn of 1957 and three years later, a fourth child and third son, Ronald James, was born. In 2007, Chuck and Gloria celebrated 50 years in business at the same location, but by then, a new shop and residence had replaced the original building. Over the years, it became a natural gathering place where one could always find out what was new in town or get something . . . virtually anything made of metal . . . that was broken repaired plus, there was often a cup of Gloria's coffee available to visitors and lots of free advice.

Chuck was a gifted machinist and the quintessential "Mr. Fix-it". As one of his grandchildren once said, "My grandpa can fix anything" - and Chuck had hundreds of customers over the years that would verify that statement. He was an absolute genius when it came to metal repair and fabrication. In those early years, the local farmers were constantly in need of repairs on their machinery and equipment. With most of their money invested in putting their crops in the ground, his customers had little left to pay for repairs until the fall harvest, so in many cases, Chuck had to wait until after harvest season to get paid. Over the years, he helped out many a struggling farmer by doing repair work gratis.

Growing up, his children NEVER thought of their father as being handicapped and neither did he. The relatively modern concept of "entitlement" was totally foreign to Chuck. For him and so many others of his generation, he was responsible for providing for himself and his family and you simply played the hand you were dealt without complaint. He was a loving father and devoted husband, who worked very hard to provide for his family and serve his community. He was a member of the Lake Crystal School Board for years and operated several other businesses in partnership with his friends in the community. From a roller skating rink, to selling snowmobiles and pop-up campers, to selling tools across Southern Minnesota, working at the Lake Crystal Light Plant and blowing snow from the sidewalks of Lake Crystal, Chuck was always busy and usually accompanied by one of his many canine companions.

In their later years, Chuck and Gloria enjoyed visiting their children and grandchildren . . . from Virginia to Missouri and Texas. They would often spend the winter months with Ken and Joni in Texas and return home in the spring to plant their garden and open the shop as the local farmers returned to their fields. They enjoyed many trips with family to scenic spots across the United States and even ventured abroad to Germany and the Bahamas. On the other hand, their grandchildren loved to come and stay a week with Grandpa and Grandma, for there was always lots of love and good food along with a chance to drive Grandpa's go-kart or tractor, go skeet shooting or play "Spoons" or "You Blew It!"

Over the last few years, Chuck's health limited his ability to work in the shop, but he still tinkered and did small jobs as he was able. The stress of a fused hip joint eventually took its toll on his entire body. Gloria was stricken with breast cancer several years ago and applied herself diligently to natural treatments. Despite the cancer's progression, she remained active and ever engaged in caring for her husband, whose mobility became increasingly limited. Even though her eyesight had deteriorated to the point of virtual blindness due to glaucoma, she continued to assist Chuck with his daily routine. Chuck served as Gloria's eyes and Gloria served as Chuck's legs and together, they made do.

By April of 2013, their needs increased to the point that their daughter Joni came to live with them for three months in an effort to help them stay at home a little longer. In June of 2013, our family gathered for a reunion at "the home place" and both Chuck and Gloria thoroughly enjoyed having their family together again.
Later that same month, Gloria began receiving hospice care in-home and by mid-July, both Chuck and Gloria decided to move to Crystal Seasons, a care facility where they could both receive the help they needed on a daily basis.

Sadly, Gloria's cancer continued to weaken and enervate her and she died on Tuesday, September 3rd in their Crystal Seasons apartment with Chuck at her side, just a few weeks short of their 65th wedding anniversary.

Chuck mourned the loss of his "Old Glory" for the rest of his life, but his many friends and caregivers at Crystal Seasons and in the community came to his aid and comfort. He was thrilled to learn that his son Ron and wife Terri would be purchasing the old "home place", living there, working the garden spot and opening up a shop of their own! Both Ron and Terri were there for him during the final weeks of his life, and their German Shepherd Indy gave Chuck a real boost as well. It appears that "Chuck's Repair Shop" will live on and the neon sign will remain in the shop window.

Our beloved father, grandfather and great grandfather , devoted husband and dear friend died peacefully on Saturday, July 12, 2014 at Crystal Seasons Living Community in Lake Crystal, where he resided for the past year.

Chuck was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Gloria and sisters, Hazel, Elaine, and Ezurina.
He is survived by four children, Ken (Kathy) Giese of Ft. Worth, TX, Joni (Ken) Anderson of Spring, TX, Roger (Diane) Giese of Caledonia, MN, and Ron (Terri) Giese of Lake Crystal, MN; nine grandchildren (Daniel, Jacob, Kristy, Mark, Matthew, Megan, Michael, Noah, Rachel; three great-grandchildren (Aria, Jayden, Patience; two sisters-in-law, Viola Schneeberger of Sacramento, CA and Marilyn Schneeberger of Willow Creek, MN; several nieces and nephews.

The family would like to thank the entire community of Lake Crystal, MN for their constant and consistent friendship and patronage over the years as well as the many caregivers and dedicated, loyal friends who provided such wonderful support to our parents and our family. We will always remember your kindness.