| Mindy Huett Almost Ranch Arabian Costumes 3584 W 106th St N Sperry OK 74073-9449 918-288-2226 9:00 am - 7:00 pm CENTRAL TIME 7 days a week! email: info@almostranch.com |
| Charlie's Eulogy |
Charlie was the son of a sharecropper in Arkansas...one of 10 siblings who knew nothing but
extreme poverty & hard work picking cotton, frequently moving to anywhere his Daddy could
find work. His Mom was meek, mild & soft spoken who also worked in the cotton fields while
also raising her 10 children (try THAT sometime!). They had no indoor plumbing till Charlie
was in his teens. Because of his hard life, he was not able to finish high school, but managed to
make it through the 11th grade. His family finally settled in Vilonia, Arkansas.
I met Charlie in Vilonia the 2nd weekend in June, 1989 on a 3-day wagon train & were married
on August 11th. It was literally love at first sight for both of us & we even had closely matched
grey mares! Because of our whirlwind courtship, people said our marriage would never last.
Charlie picked beautiful wildflowers from the back of his horse & would ride up alongside to
give them to me (see photo below). When the wagon train was over, I was close to being
dysfunctional with deep depression because I thought I'd never see him again...until he called
me a week later. The first time he came to see me, his name became "Babycakes" from then
on. Shortly after we married, he named our place "The Almost Ranch" because of it being
only 10 acres. My business will retain that name in his honor, regardless of where I'm living.
It may sound unbelievable, but our marriage was completely argument free. Babycakes was
ALWAYS happy, cheerful, fun loving, attentive & considerate...always wanting to please. Even
at his job, he would rather receive praise than a raise. He loved being around people & was
most happy when he was helping someone (he trimmed an elderly neighbor's fence line several
acres long & never told him). It's nearly impossible to say he had any faults as he was as close
as possible to being the perfect human being. NO one will ever be able to fill his shoes.
Babycakes was admitted to the hospital (ICU) on July 12th with acute pneumonia. After about
3 days, there seemed to be some improvement so he was moved to Acute Care, but then
developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) & began declining more each
day...then was moved back to ICU. The last couple of days he had to be placed on a respirator
& sedated. When his heart & kidneys began to fail, he finally succumbed & died on July 23rd
at the age of only 59 years old, never getting to see retirement that he was so looking forward
to. It's possible he had pneumonia for a period of time & we didn't know it until he began
having a high fever. Everything possible was done for him (and THEN some), but the
pneumonia apparently was stronger than the treatments & medications.
Online condolences for this one-of-a-kind, wonderful man can be submitted at
www.johnsonfhsperry.com.
extreme poverty & hard work picking cotton, frequently moving to anywhere his Daddy could
find work. His Mom was meek, mild & soft spoken who also worked in the cotton fields while
also raising her 10 children (try THAT sometime!). They had no indoor plumbing till Charlie
was in his teens. Because of his hard life, he was not able to finish high school, but managed to
make it through the 11th grade. His family finally settled in Vilonia, Arkansas.
I met Charlie in Vilonia the 2nd weekend in June, 1989 on a 3-day wagon train & were married
on August 11th. It was literally love at first sight for both of us & we even had closely matched
grey mares! Because of our whirlwind courtship, people said our marriage would never last.
Charlie picked beautiful wildflowers from the back of his horse & would ride up alongside to
give them to me (see photo below). When the wagon train was over, I was close to being
dysfunctional with deep depression because I thought I'd never see him again...until he called
me a week later. The first time he came to see me, his name became "Babycakes" from then
on. Shortly after we married, he named our place "The Almost Ranch" because of it being
only 10 acres. My business will retain that name in his honor, regardless of where I'm living.
It may sound unbelievable, but our marriage was completely argument free. Babycakes was
ALWAYS happy, cheerful, fun loving, attentive & considerate...always wanting to please. Even
at his job, he would rather receive praise than a raise. He loved being around people & was
most happy when he was helping someone (he trimmed an elderly neighbor's fence line several
acres long & never told him). It's nearly impossible to say he had any faults as he was as close
as possible to being the perfect human being. NO one will ever be able to fill his shoes.
Babycakes was admitted to the hospital (ICU) on July 12th with acute pneumonia. After about
3 days, there seemed to be some improvement so he was moved to Acute Care, but then
developed Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) & began declining more each
day...then was moved back to ICU. The last couple of days he had to be placed on a respirator
& sedated. When his heart & kidneys began to fail, he finally succumbed & died on July 23rd
at the age of only 59 years old, never getting to see retirement that he was so looking forward
to. It's possible he had pneumonia for a period of time & we didn't know it until he began
having a high fever. Everything possible was done for him (and THEN some), but the
pneumonia apparently was stronger than the treatments & medications.
Online condolences for this one-of-a-kind, wonderful man can be submitted at
www.johnsonfhsperry.com.
