November 9, 2014 Oriental lost a blacksmith Thursday. When Chuck Beattie and his wife, Paula, moved to Oriental 9 years ago, they had the idea of taking up sailing, she says. Instead, Chuck became fascinated with working metal and blacksmithing. He set up a gas forge and a metal shop, founded Oriental Ironworks and displayed his work over the years. On Thursday, Chuck died suddenly at their home on Orchard Creek. He was 70. A native of Middletown, Ohio, Chuck graduated the US Air Force Academy in 1967 and flew C130s in the Vietnam War. He later worked as a commercial airline pilot and as an air carrier inspector for the FAA and retired as a Colonel in the Air Force Reserve. While the sailing may have not been foremost once he got to Oriental, Chuck has left a marine part of his story in Oriental. A few years ago, Oriental’s History Museum had put a call out for residents to loan compasses to the museum for a display. Chuck came forward with a brassy one, and a story. While on leave during the war, he traveled to Taiwan and came upon a freighter being dismantled for its scrap metal. He asked if he could look it over first, and was allowed to take away the compass. Forty years later, Chuck donated that compass that he salvaged in Tainan, Taiwan to the museum in his new town. It’s there today. His family says as much as Chuck loved to travel the world, he always loved returning home for a cigar and a Scotch overlooking his creek. Friends are gathering there to celebrate Chuck’s life today. Condolences go out to Paula who was married to Chuck for 42 years, and their son Mark, and daughter-in-law Zoe and the rest of the family.
Posted on: Sun, 09 Nov 2014 19:52:20 +0000
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