Charles E Wiemers' Obituary
In loving memory of Charles "Chuck" E. Wiemers who left us peacefully on May 24, 2014. Charles was born on July 27, 1932 on a small farm in Pomeroy, Iowa to Heye and Catherine Wiemers. After the death of his mom, he was raised by his foster parents, his Uncle John and Aunt Tena Dirks. He was the youngest of four children—he had two brothers, Walter and Raymond, and a sister, Wilma. He is survived by Thulin, his loving wife of 55 years, daughters Renee (Jim) and Camilla (Eric), and son Marcus (Roxanne), as well as his eight beautiful grandchildren (Brianna, Emily, Trenton, Michaela, Trevor, Rebecca, Brianna and Adam).
At an early age, Chuck learned what hard work was all about, having spent his childhood years working on the family farm. There he honed his skills as a craftsman, mechanic and engineer, and was known to throw a few bails of hay, which gave him his "farmer's muscles!" In high school, Chuck played baseball and basketball, and in his senior year became an Iowa all-state basketball player.
After high school, Chuck became a member of the US Navy and served in the Korean War from 1951-1955. He was a proud Navy veteran, loved his country and always spoke highly of his times in the service. He shared stories of work on the hydrogen bomb unfolding during this period. Being a crew member of a Navy supply boat in the Marshall Islands allowed him to be present during two hydrogen bomb tests—the Operation Ivy test in the Eniwetok Atoll in 1952, and the Operation Castle test in the Bikini Atoll in 1954.
After his Navy service, he started his college career at Omaha University where, through the matchmaking talents of his future mother-in-law who worked there, he met Thulin. He completed college in Logan, Utah, earning his B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering in 1957 at Utah State University. He married Thulin shortly after and began his first job at Morton-Thiokol as an Aero Engineer. In 1969 he was recruited to be an Aero Engineer at General Dynamics/Convair in Kearney Mesa, CA. The family settled in Escondido. One of the highlights of his career was the work he did with the Mercury/Apollo spacecraft during the race to the moon in the late 1960s. He was very proud of his contribution to this part of our country's history, and followed the American space program the rest of his life.
Chuck was a man of many talents. He earned his private pilot's license and "airframe and powerplant" license (A&P License). Those who knew him were often amazed at his ability to build and fix nearly anything. If Chuck didn't know how to fix something, it wouldn't be long before he would learn how. One of his proudest accomplishments was building a cabin by hand on Palomar Mountain. The saying, "You can take the boy out of the farm, but you can't take the farm out of the boy" was never truer than with Chuck. Having a bit of his Iowa home was important was very important to him, so he transported lumber from his family's old barn to Palomar Mountain to line the walls of the bottom floor. He also built a wood box from the buckboard wagon he rode on with his dad. Every detail in the cabin holds a memory.
Chuck served proudly as a reserve police officer with the Escondido Police Department for 27 years. During that time he joined the Escondido Police Department's Motorcycle Drill Team where he served as its Captain. The team kicked off more than one Escondido Christmas parade and many others around Southern California. Chuck pursued his love of motorcycle riding—and lovingly maintained his police Harley-Davidson—the rest of his life.
He was a spiritual man who believed strongly in Christ our Lord. He sang in the church choir for many years and served on the board of trustees too. Chuck valued most of all his roles as husband, father and grandfather. He loved his family dearly and was a true provider in all senses of the word.
A memorial service will be held on Monday, June 2, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. at the First Congregational Church of Escondido,1800 North Broadway, Escondido, CA. In lieu of flowers, please make a charitable donation in Chuck's name to the music department of the First Congregational Church of Escondido. Friends are invited to visit the family's online guest book at www.forevermissed.com/charles-edward-wiemers.
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