He did figure out what he wanted to do, though. He and three partners founded the company Qualitron Corporation in Danbury, from which he retired as CEO. As CEO, Mr Speidel knew each employee by name, recognized their birthdays, and annually gave each one a poinsettia for Christmas.

He was active in the local business organizations — Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce. As a community member, he was the volunteer photographer, archivist, and historian of the Save the Hawleyville Post Office campaign in 2009. On opening day of the new Hawleyville Post Office, March 15, 2010, Mr Speidel was given the honor of raising the flag at that facility for the very first time. He had purchased a new flagstaff for the old Hawleyville Post Office. Also, he had supplied new flags for the Old Hawleyville Post Office for the previous 14 years.

Mr Speidel loved life, a good time, his golfing and skiing buddies, all his friends and his family. He did love playing golf. On October 10, 2010, he hit a hole-in-one on the 10th green while playing with his foursome of many years. For this auspicious occasion, he used a driver. No one could be around him without experiencing his genuine interest in them and their lives. Generosity flowed from Mr Speidel like the Colorado River he enjoyed rafting down.

Save Hawleyville Post Office confederate Ann Marie Mitchell recalled her friendship with Mr Speidel. “I have had the privilege of being with Charlie in the company of his family and his friends,” Ms Mitchell said. “It became quickly apparent how deeply he appreciated the relationships he shared with all of them. It was mutual, for sure. He was the life of any party, telling funny stories about the people he shared his life with over the years,” she said.

There was sorrow in his life. He wife, Maureen Keenaghan Speidel of Richmond Hill, N.Y., predeceased him when she was 34. This loss left him with three young children to raise on his own.

When Phyllis came into his life two years later, they were both widowed, with children. They met in September and married that November. The party started and never stopped. Phyllis and Charlie were in love up to the moment she passed away.

At a lunch date with Mr Speidel just a few weeks ago, he shared several life stories with her, Ms Mitchell said, including of Phyllis. “It was apparent he truly loved her. When our lunch was over, with his eyes welling up with tears,” Ms Mitchell remembered, “he said, ‘I have had a very good life.’”

How many pictures did he take as the official volunteer photographer of the Danbury Hospital Golf Tournament, the ICAN Golf Tournament for Ann’s Place, his own Daffodil Golf Tournament memorializing his deceased wife Phyllis, and as the unofficial photographer of every other event he attended? The hundreds of people who received albums filled with these photos of their special events can confirm that the photos numbered in the thousands.

Sailing as a child with his father and his friends in a 14-foot dingy on Lake Ontario instilled in him a love of being on the water. His two youngest children remember canoeing on Lobster Lake in Maine with Phyllis, Charlie, and their two poodles, Sammy and Bucky. Rafting trips down the Colorado River with his grandchildren and sons-in-law, as well as cruises with family and friends, were for Mr Speidel a source of excitement and fun. His most recent adventures included a cruise to Antarctica on the Endeavor, and a cruise to Tahiti on a four-masted clipper ship.

Daughters Gay Alvarez, Diane Benton, Corinne Speidel, son Christopher Speidel, and son-in-law Robert Wasson, husband of deceased daughter, Catherine Wasson; 11 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren survive Mr Speidel. He is survived in Rochester by his sister Patricia Gottschalk, niece Jean Gottschalk, nephew Glen Gottschalk, and his cousin Fritz. One grandson predeceased him.

A mass to celebrate Mr Speidel’s life took place at St Rose of Lima Church, Newtown, May 31.

The family asks that in lieu of flowers donations be made to Cure CMD. Mr Speidel’s 3-year-old great-grandson Carter Stevenson has a rare form of muscular dystrophy called limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Cure CMD is a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to research in hopes of finding a cure for both congenital and limb-girdle muscular dystrophy. Currently, there is no known treatment or cure for this disease. Donation checks may be made payable to “Cure CMD,” with the Stevenson Family Fund written in the memo at the bottom of the check. Donations may be sent to Cure CMD, PO Box 701, Olathe KS 66051.

Green Funeral Home, 57 Main Street, Danbury, assisted the family.

The Newtown Bee        June 1, 2012