Charles Thompson

Charles Warner Thompson - known as "Charlie" to his friends and "Hoppy" to his family - went to be with the Great Spirit on the sunny morning of October 22nd as he held his daughter's hand. He leaves behind a legacy of love, meritorious service to his country, dedication to his community, and enough laughter to fill the hearts of all who knew him for many lifetimes to come.

Born on June 18, 1944 in Lackawanna, NY, Charlie was the youngest of three children and the only son of D. Jeanne Warner and Charles Ellis Thompson. His mother was a nurse and a woman of sharp wit and great intelligence, who was a proud descendent of Hans Landis, the Swiss martyr. His father was a former college heavyweight boxing champion and Hunter's Safety Instructor who worked for Bethlehem Steel, and built the house in Buffalo where Charlie and his siblings grew up. This start in life gave Charlie a lifelong appreciation for study, history, hard work, and humor (he was the youngest, after all).

Charlie's exceptional intellect and athleticism marked his path through high school and extended into his college years at Penn State. He answered the draft in 1969 and served his country in the Vietnam war, service which earned him a Bronze Star among other commendations. He was known to give his absolute all to whatever task was presented him, using his penchant for invention and efficiency to improve upon current systems to make conditions better for those who followed. Charlie earned his Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the University at Buffalo in 1977, afterwards completing his residency through University of Rochester at Strong Hospital.

His daughter Robyn was born in 1979, and in her he found his new biggest fan. Not long after, he moved to Lima, NY to start his community dental practice. Charlie loved his work as a dentist, balancing his proclivity for exacting labwork, impeccable surgical technique, and service to a community he adored. He was known to do temporary veneers - free of charge - for brides who wanted to make sure their smiles looked perfect for their wedding day photos. He felt that every woman deserved to feel beautiful and confident on her wedding day, regardless of ability to afford expensive dental work. And thus he dedicated himself to his patients for upwards of 40 years. He was a lifetime member of the American Dental Association, Lima Historical Society, and DAV (Disabled Veterans of America).

There were few things Charlie loved more than touring the countryside on his motorcycle. While he had more than one close call - one involving a whitetail buck that landed him overnight on the roadside and eventually in the hospital thanks to the eagle eyes of a good Samaritan driver - he maintained that nothing made him feel freer than riding that bike. He did so religiously until barely a year before his passing.

Charlie was an avid SCUBA diver, fisherman, tinkerer, jokester, and inventor. As is the case with many surgeons in their free time, he had a passion for working with his hands. His keen interest in woodworking led him to craft everything from wooden fountain pens to Shaker furniture. He once said that a true gentleman should own a tuxedo and be able handcraft a perfect dovetail joint. (Surely the list of gentlemanly requirements was much longer than that, but he found those two particularly important.) Charlie also had a passion for restoring cars, from Camaros to BMWs, Volvos to his cherry '77 MG.

Countless nighttime hours were spent studying naval and aerospace history, and Charlie could recite names, dates, esoteric facts, and specific ship and plane model measurements at the drop of a hat. He approached life with exceptional curiosity, greatly valuing deep conversations and new points of view. As a father he was ever so tender, and serious fun. A gifted storyteller, he would regale his rapt audience of one with dramatic, magical, and often hilarious sagas on long car rides or at bedtime.

Charlie was fascinating because he was fascinated by the world. He was an endless font of wonder and information because he understood there was so much more out there to know and understand. His wonderment extended to animals, for which he always had a soft spot. Charlie took in a stray cat who became something of a therapy animal at his practice, climbing into the laps of nervous dental patients and calming them with relaxing purrs. Charlie befriended foxes and faithfully filled his birdfeeders, loving to watch nature from his picture window.

Charlie was an unforgettable person and beloved father, complicated and earnest and riotously fun and deep and occasionally infuriatingly puzzling - a true gift. His passing leaves a profound void in our hearts, but how very joyous that we could walk this earth together for a little while. It is difficult to express how desperately missed he will be.

Charlie was preceded in death by his parents, his sisters Jeanne Ceisner and Judith Newman, and by many friends and fellow veterans whose companionship he cherished. Charlie is survived by his daughter, Robyn Ott; his granddaughters, River Ott and Imogen Ott; his nephews Richard James, Todd Ceisner, and Donny Newman; and his niece Tami Newman Isherwood.

A great debt of gratitude is owed to Deputy Aaron Cassiano of the Monroe County Sheriff's Office (without whom this story may have gone a bit differently), Dad's incredible neighbors, nay, family, in Lima, and his extraordinary care teams at the VA, Wilmot Cancer Center, and Highland Hospital Emergency and Intensive Care units. All of you are heroes.

A graveside service to honor Charlie will be held at Bath National Cemetery on Friday, November 13th at 2 pm. All are welcome. A local Lima get-together that Friday evening is in planning stages also, so anyone who can't make the trip to Bath can join us in celebrating Charlie's life. In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to Lima Historical Society or the DAV (Disabled Veterans of America). If a donation is not possible, learn a new joke, listen to a new song, approach a differing opinion with curiosity, and in the final words of a poem kept in Dad's hallway, "Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love. Speak it again. Speak it still again. Speak it still once again."