Today we laid my Granpa Carlos Chaidez to rest. We had a wonderful celebration of him complete with Color Guard presenting the folded flag to Granma. There was singing by memebers of his church and a beautiful sermon by one of his friends and pastors. My cousin Isaac gave the eulogy. After everything we all gathered for brunch. It was a a bittersweet day. But we rejoiced in his life. Below is his eulogy is you are interested.
“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.”
Psalm 55:22 ~ NIV
Granpa had written this Psalm (among a few others) in the front cover of his Bible.
Carlos "Charlie" Chaidez, Born in Los Angeles on July 11th, 1922. Went home to be with the Lord on October 17th, 2010 at the age of 88. He is survived by his loving wife of 68 years Bertha, sons Charles (Ila), Art (Micki), Raymond, and Danny; daughter Dolores (Ken) Flores; and sister Delia Ayon. He had 11 grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren and 1 great great grandchild. He proudly served in the Army Air Corps from 1942-1946. A viewing will be held on Sunday October 24th from 5-9pm at the Forest Lawn Mortuary Chapel in Covina. The services will be held on Monday October 25th at 9am at the Forest Lawn Mortuary Church in Covina.
"See Ya Round Like A Donut!"
How does one sum up a man’s life in a few minutes? For someone so loved it is truly a challenge. When Grandpa Carlos was 7 years old his mother Elvira died. He grew up being raised by his dad Placido (Pa) his Grandma and aunts served as his mother figures, and they loved him very dearly. Later in life Pa re-married and Dora was a great mother to Grandpa Carlos, and he adored her. Pa had a butcher shop in Fullerton where he raised Grandpa. Later they moved to Irwindale and when she was 7 or 8 years old, Granma Bertha first saw him driving his brother Frankie in a homemade wagon and something in her jumped when she saw him.
A few years later in school Grandpa Carlos saw grandma and asked Tio Pipes who she was and he said “That’s my sister!” Granma Bertha was 13 at the time. He was determined to get to know Granma Bertha. She says “He was always showing off. Making a pest of himself.” He eventually wore her down and they eloped when she was 16 and he was 20. They eloped to Yuma, Arizona and were married on June 17, 1942. They were married 68 years.
Later that same year, just after Christmas, Grandpa Carlos joined The United States Army Air Corps. Of course Granma Bertha was already pregnant with Uncle Charles when he left. Later on leave they conceived my Mom, Dolores. He proudly served 3 years of active duty from 1942 – 1946 as a gunner in a B-24 Liberator. As soon as he got onto the train from LA they took him to Florida and right away they promoted him to Sergeant and gave him charge of a unit. Stationed in Italy, his plane was hit by enemy fire while in a bombing run over Germany and crashed while landing in Italy. He was badly burned in the crash. The burns covered most of his body and they thought he wouldn’t be able to continue his family. He proved them wrong with the births of Uncle Art, Uncle Ray and Uncle Danny. He was hospitalized for 6 months due to his injuries and later honorably discharged.
After his discharge he became a foreman for Demerol in Covina. They used to make orange marmalade. He worked in the orange groves and all the family worked there; because that’s how things worked back then. After that he worked for the Pipe & Casing Company. Grandma Bertha says “He started regular then they made him quality control inspector. He was lucky in places. They saw potential. He was a very hard worker no matter how he felt, he was there, and he always supported his family.”
He was always happy go lucky and wanted to treat all of his friends. He was in his 50’s when he retired. Selling the house in Covina and moving he and Granma Bertha to Pinon Hills in 1982. That’s when Uncle Danny bought for Grandpa a parrot. Grandpa loved his Paco and would lovingly call him Pacito. Paco loved Grandpa back just as equally. Growing up we would hear Paco calling for Grandpa. "Carlos!" "Carlos!" and "Praise The Lord!" when he would see him. Funny thing is Paco would sound just like Grandma calling for Grandpa as he would work on the yard. At the time they kept animals for food so Grandpa was often outside when she called for him.
Right after they moved to Pinon Hills, he got involved with Summer Haven Ranch “The Ranch” and went regularly. He traveled to Montana to the Indian reservation for two weeks to help build a church there. As a missionary for The Ranch they made him a distributor of food and he would feed the people.
A little later Grandpa and Grandma took in over 50 Foster children covering a span of 10 years ending with their last group of Foster Children a couple years ago. His aches and pains from his earlier injuries started to catch up with him. The road to his deliverance was a long road with many turns. He spent the last two years suffering from his pains. Even though he suffered, he would still brighten up when he had company.
Grandpa loved my Granma Bertha very much. Over the last few months he was happiest with her by his side. He was relentless in his calls for her. He was jealous of any time she spent away from him. She stayed by his bedside and he and left this world holding his loves hand.
Warm Thoughts & Memories From His Family
Charles – One time, when I was 16 or 17, I came home late smashed and early the next morning he woke me up to wash his car. I really didn’t know what I was doing but I thought I looked good washing the car!
Dolores – Being the only “Darling Daughter” there were times when I would go out with my friends. I’d be getting home and I’d see Dad outside with a flashlight waiting for me to get home. My friends would say “Is that your dad?” Sometimes he would set his alarm to check to make sure I was home on time. Sometimes I would hear the alarm and run to my room to pretend I was asleep.
Growing up I remember dad playing his albums, watching World War II documentaries and watching the fights. Later in life we would be prepared to watch Lawrence Welk. His favorite Football team was The Raiders.
When Mom and Dad moved to Pinon Hills, Dad always called it “God’s Country.” It would make his day when we would go visit him He would say I love my kids to come and see me, it makes my day!
The fondest memory I have and will miss is when he would call me on my birthday and sing Happy Birthday. Dad now you are truly in God’s Country. For everyone that prayed for Dad and acknowledged the Family in prayer, thank you. Love you Dad.
Ken – He always had a smile on his face.
Art – He enjoyed deep sea and fresh water fishing. Any kind of fishing. I remember him as being a very patriotic man. He flew his American Flag every day, no matter what, up until he was physically unable to.
Danny – When he and mom first moved to Pinon Hills he loved it so much he used to call it “God’s Country!” Sure enough whenever someone would go visit him he would say “Welcome to God’s Country!”
Carrie – As a child, whenever he saw me Grandpa would sing his special nickname to me.
Isaac - My favorite memories of Grandpa was when I was about 7 or 8 years old in Ensenada. We had just arrived at the trailer when we sat down for dinner. Grandpa was always eating jalapenos like they were pickles. I asked him if they tasted good, and he said: "Sure, take a bite". I bit into, what was at the time, the hottest thing I ever tasted. Since we had just arrived in Ensenada, all of the drinks were either warm or hot. My mouth burned for half an hour. He said jalapenos would grow hair on my chest. He was right.
One morning, I think on the same Ensenada trip, I went down to the shore where he was already there, fishing. Just as I got there, he handed me his pole and said: "Reel 'em in!". I managed to catch an 18" shark. I think it was the first fish I ever caught, and Grandpa did almost all the work. Even so, he told everybody that I had caught the shark. There's a picture of me holding the shark in my mom's hallway. Whenever I see that photo, it always reminds me of him; even though he's not in the photo.
David - When grandpa would take us fishing, (Silverwood , Jackson lake, Santa Fe Dam) we always had a great time, even though we never caught anything... But we didn't care cause we were hanging out with Grandpa. Even though we were young, we knew our time with grandpa Charlie was special.
When he would put us to work, cutting wood, digging rocks out of the ground, for some reason, he always made it seem like we were doing it because it was fun. But he was always there with us, working away. I always admired him for his hard work.
Taking Grandpa to his first and LAST Raider game. He said "never again!", because the crowd was too rowdy for him. But we all had fun and we still talk about going to that game today.
Most of all I think it was all the holidays we all spend at Grandpa and Grandmas. Just relaxing and watching whatever the grandkids wanted to watch. It was never about Grandpa, it was always about what he could do for us. Looking back I don't ever remember my Grandpa ever raising his voice in anger at us. (And we weren’t the best of kids.) To me he was a gentle soul with a loving heart.
I will think about him every day, with a smile on my face. Missing his little catch phrases as, how you doing "Big Boy?", or the ever popular, "see ya round like a donut."
Marisa – I have this one memory that has always stuck with me. When my dad Art graduated from CHP Academy my Grandparents were there to watch him graduate. Afterward they took me on my first trip to see San Francisco. Even though I was a big chiona about taking the scary train under the water by Golden Gate and thought Lombard street was pure terror. Grandpa still had patience with me and laughed it off. I have wonderful memories of the Sea Lions down by the wharf and just being with them. When I think of him I think of comfort and joy.
As children we took many trips with them. One year they loaded up all us kids and took us to Disneyland when Space Mountain first opened. Again, I was a chiona because I didn’t want to ride a fast roller coaster (I preferred Dumbo) and stayed behind but the boys looked like they had fun when they got off the ride! He never made us do anything we didn’t want to do or were too scared to do, and he never belittled us if we were too scared.
Whenever he would see me he would always exclaim “Sweetheart!” like I was the love of his life. He never once raised his voice or said profane words whenever us kids would get into mischief or test his patience - which was all too often! He always made me feel special, wanted and loved, and priceless in his eyes.
Christopher - I remember my brother Charlie and I went out to shoot BB guns but I bumped my head on a cactus and it was bleeding. When we got back to the house grandpa thought Charlie shot me in the head! It was a funny moment.
Lynelle - Grandpa somehow always made chores fun, of course back then, when I was a kid I thought it was an activity but now I’m older and looking back I realize it was actually a chore. He would have us go to what he called the store but was actually their shed on the side of the house and pick out food for Grandma to make us for dinner. I always enjoyed picking out different types of food, especially the food our parents wouldn’t let us have but our grandparents did.
I would spend every Christmas break at my Grandparents house. Grandpa would go outside every night and check the weather and predict snow and of course my cousins and I thought Grandpa was some sort of weather man for doing this but without fail it wouldn’t snow and we would be disappointed, he would tell us it’s ok it will snow tomorrow, he somehow always made us feel better. These are the fun memories that I will always hold close to my heart.
Every time we would leave my Grandparents house my Grandpa had this saying…he would never say goodbye but he’d say “see ya round like a donut” that was his thing. Those were the last words I said to my grandfather 2 hours before he died and I know even in the condition he was in that he heard me because he responded the best way he could.
Grandpa Carlos we all love and miss you. We know one day we will see you again. Until then….."See Ya Round Like A Donut!"
Until Next Time, SoCal Marisa
of chocolate chip morsels. Yup you guessed Granma was baking chocolate chip cookies! Oh man, the smell was amazing. I have to say it's funny to watch my very grown uncles clamoring around the cookie sheet anticipating the next batch hot out of the oven.