Charles Rishel

If the dictionary included specific examples of its terms, then you would find the name Charles D. Rishel with the definition of "hard-working." He lived nearly one hundred years, a long lifetime that he dedicated to his farm, his wife, and his children.

At the onset of the twentieth century, America was a smaller country with a union of forty-six states, a life expectancy of under fifty years, and a total of only ten miles of paved road. 27th Street in Vicksburg was not among those ten miles of paved road. It was a dirt road, and if you followed it far enough, you'd eventually find yourself at the farmhouse of Horace and Alice Rishel which, in the year 1905, was alive with excitement at the birth of their son.

Charles was born in the family farmhouse on April 5, 1905, the third and youngest child in the family. He was the second generation in his family to farm this land, and together with his older siblings Hazen and Lottie, they kept their acreage in good shape. In his younger days, farming was done with a horse and a plow; it was only when he grew older that he began to use tractors. Charlie, as his school friends and family all called him, graduated from Vicksburg High School with the class of 1923. He had no intentions of leaving the farm life. He loved the work and the lifestyle, and he continued to live on the farm and look after its acreage. That farm has since reached Centennial age.

In 1938 Charlie's life took on a new dimension when he met the woman he knew he'd marry. Her name was Katherine Bullock, and she was the sole teacher in one of the rural schools in the area. Charlie's sister-in-law Elizabeth also taught in a school, and it seemed like a fine idea to Elizabeth to invite Katherine over for dinner. Charlie and his mother stopped by Katherine's school and Alice asked if Katherine would like to come over for dinner. She agreed, and the rest is history: she and Charlie married on October 4, 1939 in the home of Katherine's parents, just south of Mendon.

Now that Charlie was married, he dedicated his attention to his own plot of land, two eighty acre lots. He lived just a quarter-of-a-mile from his birth home, and soon his house was filled with children. Janet was born in 1943, then Joyce in 1946, Carolyn in 1949, followed by Stanley in 1959. As his children grew up, Charlie taught each one of them how to drive a tractor. They were still quite young when they got the hang of it. All the kids enjoyed learning how to use a tractor. They helped out on the farm, riding the tractor to cultivate the corn. Janet and Joyce each raised two pigs, and they all helped look after the pigs and crops, their wheat, oats, and corn. Charlie was a member of the Farm Bureau.

Charlie loved his life on the farm, but he also enjoyed getting into his car and driving somewhere. He liked to see the country. He would often take his whole family to visit Katherine's sister Eunice, who moved all around the country because of her husband's service in the armed forces. They visited her in California, Oregon, Virginia, and Florida. When they were at the farmhouse, it was always a pleasure for Charlie to get the family gathered around the table for a nice dinner. He loved pork chops, but if no one was around to cook, he'd just as soon eat cheese and crackers.

Something that always impressed Charlie was the mechanics of a tractor. He loved those machines, as someone who is raised in the horse-and-plow tradition of farming only can. Farming never simply meant "work" to Charlie. It was something that he loved, and his hard working spirit and determination kept him tending to his lawn until the very end. He tended to his own garden, and just three weeks ago he mowed his lawn. To his wife, Charlie was an example of honesty and compassion. For his children, Charlie was an example of a gentle man with a determined heart, someone who is a hard-worker with a commitment to survival. He had wanted to live to be a hundred years old, a goal he came just six months shy of.

When his kids were young, the whole family went to Wakeshma Baptist Church, but from the late '70s on to the present, Charlie attended the Factoryville Bible Church. He was a religious man whose life was blessed not only with longevity, but also with the births of eight grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

Charlie died October 13, 2004. Learn more about Charlie, view his Life Story film, and visit with his family and friends Sunday 2 to 6 PM at the ™ - Rupert, Durham Marshall & Gren Life Story Funeral Home, Vicksburg Chapel. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM Monday at the Factoryville Bible Church. The Reverend Fred Goebert will officiate. Burial will be at the Vicksburg Cemetery. Members of Charles family include his wife of 65 years, Katherine; four children and their spouses: Janet and Louis Boulden, of Porter, Texas; Joyce and Anthony Podkol, of Paw Paw; Carolyn Rishel, of Kalamazoo; Stanley Rishel, of Des Plaines, Illinois. He is also survived by seven grandchildren, Christina Rice, Suzanne Boyer, Thomas Podkol, Kimberly Pursley, Kevin Podkol, Louis Robert Boulden, B. Mark Boulden, and five great grandchildren, Emily Boyer, Ashley Boyer, Jason Boyer Jr., Tyler Pursley, Sean Pursley. He is preceded in death by his grandson Steven Podkol, brother Hazen, and sister Lottie Oswalt. Please visit Charles’ memory page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you can read his life story, archive a favorite memory, order flowers or make a memorial donation to the Factoryville Bible Church.

Charlie truly defined what it meant to be a hard-worker; for his family, he also defined what it meant to be a loving father and husband. He will be frequently remembered.