CHARLES WILLARD SHIMER

Charles "Chuck" Willard Shimer, the son of Willard Dale and Frances Ella Shimer, was born December 8th, 1929 in New Brighton, Pennsylvania.

 Willard Dale Shimer was born January 29th, 1904 in Freed, West Virginia. He was the second born to James G. Shimer and Elzena Haught. Willard was in the sixth generation of the Daniel Shimer Family in America, who left Germany on September 15th, 1749 with his brothers Friedric and Michel. They sailed out of Rotterdam aboard the ship "Edinburg."

 The James Shimer family moved to Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania around 1907, living in the College Hill area. Willard, who went by Dale, attended high school in nearby New Brighton. In 1924 he met Frances Ella Hall, who went by Ella, the daughter of Frank Francis and Mary Elizabeth (McKenzie) Hall, at a party in her Mercer Road home. Dale married Ella, who graduated from New Brighton H. S. in 1925, on September 1st, 1926.

 Dale, Ella and Charles lived in Erie, PA for a time, where they ran two Penzoil service stations, but eventually returned to live at 604 Penn Avenue, New Brighton. On October 21st, 1937 Ella gave birth to a daughter, Maryellen Shimer. Dale worked as a foreman at the B & W Tube Plant and Ella worked at the local hospital, and later for the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

 Ella grew ill in 1948, and, by doctor's orders, the family moved to the milder climate of Lauderdale by the Sea, Florida.

Military Service

 As a teenager, Charles left home to become a Merchant Marine, but had to leave once it was found out that he had lied about his age to join. He was wounded and sent to the hospital, and, when visited by his commander, was asked, "Son, how old are you?" "Eighteen, Sir," he replied. His commander then told him, "Well, I have a sweet little lady outside who says she is your mother and that you are only 16." Charles returned home to New Brighton and later enlisted in the Air Force on March 2nd, 1948.

 He attended basic training at Lackland AFB, in San Antonio, Texas, from March to June of 1948.

From left to right: Hogan, Johnson, PV2 Charles W. Shimer and Kelly;
at the 345th Truck Driving school, Kelly AFB, SATX, 1948.

 Charles later received training as a Primary Armament Technician at Lowry AFB, Colorado, graduating on January 25th, 1949. While in Colorado, Charles met and married Esther Louise Brown, daughter of Martin Vanburen and Violet Blanche (Brodiene) Brown, on August 28th, 1948.

Charles and Esther Shimer on their wedding day, Denver, Colorado

 Charles and Esther moved to San Antonio in February 1949 where Charles was assigned to the 3rd Air Armament Squadron, 86th Air Depot, Kelly AFB. He performed duties as Toxic Gas Handler in the Ammo Supply section.

 Charles and Esther, meanwhile, were expecting their first child sometime around September. Charles, now a Corporal, and Esther both moved to Keesler AFB near Biloxi, Mississippi in May 1949 where Charles was assigned Temporary Duty (TDY) with the 3380th Training Squadron. They moved into an apartment at 601 E. Howard Ave., and later 405 Lee St,, Biloxi while Charles attended the Chemical Technician Course from May 11th to August 29th, 1949.

 Charles' TDY was extended to avoid having to travel while Esther was nearing her due date. On September 17th, 1949, Esther gave birth to Philip Richard Shimer at the Keesler AFB Station Hospital. Charles, Esther and their new baby returned to San Antonio on November 3rd, 1949, where Charles was assigned to the 29th Ammunition Supply Squadron, 25th Air Depot Wing, as a Chemical Warfare Technician. The 29th was later transferred to the Pueblo Ordnance Depot, Pueblo, Colorado, on February 23rd, 1950.

Rick (Philip R. Shimer) and "Charlie"
Pueblo, Colorado 1950

 Events were occurring following World War II and the rise of communism that would soon affect the future of Charles and his new family.

The Korean War

In September of 1948 the USSR installed a communist puppet government in the north of the divided Korean peninsula. The new government encouraged and supported an insurgency in the south, but, after two years of failure, North Korea engaged in open hostilities by sending the People's Army south across the 38th parallel before daylight on Sunday, June 25th, 1950. The Cold War had become hot. By June 28th, the People's Army had entered Seoul, the South Korean capitol. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, hero of the War in the Pacific, received word at his Far East Command Headquarters in Tokyo, Japan to commit ground forces.

 Initially understrength and ill-prepared for combat, the forces of the Eighth Army in Japan begun a deployment in piecemeal to defend the South. The North Koreans had already crossed the Han River and were rapidly advancing south. General MacArthur's began planning his amphibious landing at  Inch'on. General Walton H. Walker had been placed in charge of the Eighth Army on the Korean peninsula and had been backed into a defensive perimeter along a 140 mile line arching from the Korean Strait to the Sea of Japan north of Pusan. Following the landing at Inch'on by the X Corps, consisting of the 1st Marine and  7th Army Division on September 15th, General MacArthur returned Seoul to the South Koreans on September 29th, 1950.

 Charles was released from the 29th Ammo Supply Squadron in Pueblo on August 7th, 1950, and was reassigned to the 543rd Ammo Supply Squadron, along with other enlisted members of the 29th, per Special Orders Number 162 (San Bernardino Materiel Area), at Norton AFB in San Bernardino, California. Esther and "Ricky" moved to Ft. Lauderdale to live with Dale and Ella. The 543rd deployed to Korea around September 1st, 1950.

 Charles performed duties as an Ammunition Handler and Chemical Warfare Technician while with the 543rd in Korea. The UN Forces, and mainly the US Eighth Army, had pushed the North Koreans almost to China. Saber rattling by the Chinese and the USSR had not deterred Gen. MacArthur from his push north. But the Chinese XIII Army Group, consisting of eighteen divisions plus artillery and cavalry, had secretly entered North Korea in the later half of October. Later joined by the IX Army Group, with twelve divisions, this new force began to engage the UN Forces in ernest in late November 1950.

 MacArthur's forces were now on a full scale retreat. On November 29th, Gen. MacArthur gave Gen. Walker orders to make all withdrawals necessary to keep the Eighth Army from being enveloped. The withdrawal of UN Forces southward was in disarray. Gen. Walker was killed in a motor vehicle accident while travelling north to the front from Seoul on December 23rd, 1950. On this same day, Charles was severely wounded when a truck he was driving was struck by a shell, killing others in the vehicle. The following is a report from a New Brighton, PA newspaper:

 Charles was evacuated to the 395th Station Hospital in Nagoya, Japan. There he stayed until March of 1951, when he was discharged and received 6 days of rest and relaxation leave before being assigned to the 67th Tactical Recon Wing, 67th Supply Squadron on March 16th, 1951.

SGT Charles W. Shimer, Komanki Air Base, Nagoya, Japan
March 25th, 1951

 Charles was promoted to Staff Sergeant on May 4th, 1951. His orders read as follows:

67th Supply Squadron
APO 917

4 May 1951

SUBJECT: Promotion of Airman

TO:           Commanding Officer 67th M & S Gp APO 917

1.     Sgt. Charles W. Shimer, AF13269306, PASFC 46150 has been with the 67th Supply Squadron since 1 March 51 and repeatedly demonstrated his ability to handle men and follow orders. Sgt. Shimer has been placed in the difficult position of being in charge of men in a higher grade than himself. He has conducted himself accordingly and is well liked by the men in his charge. In addition Sgt. Shimer has shown his devotion to duty by working many times beyond the normal duty hours.

2.     It is recommended that Sgt. Shimer be promoted to Staff Sgt. in the best interest of the Air Force and this squadron.

FOR THE COMMANDING OFFICER;

                                                                                                                             FRANK A. BELLUGGI Jr.
                                                                                                                             CAPT                   USAF
                                                                                                                             ADJUTANT 

 Sometime between May and August of 1951, the 67th Supply Squadron returned to the Republic of Korea. His DA Form 20 (Soldier's Qualification Card) shows that he performed duties as the acting First Sergeant from March to June of 1951, and later as the Senior Munitions Specialist. On August 3rd he was reassigned to the 67th Recon Wing's HQs as a liaison NCOIC. On the reverse of an overexposed photo dated 20 Aug. 1951 from Korea, Charles wrote to Esther that the picture was "taken on the way up to "Charlie-Relay" Radio Station in the Mts. We still carry our 45's in shoulder holsters."

 In October of 1951, Charles is shown as assigned to Co. B 8069th Ranger Battalion as a Demolition Technician. Little is known to me of his service during this period. In December, he returned to the 67th as the unit supply sergeant and rotated back to the United States, apparently by the USS General Walker to Yerba Bueana Island off of San Francisco, CA, and was Honorably discharged from Bolling AFB on March 3rd, 1952. His DD Form 214 shows his awards as the Korean Service Medal with 3 Battle Stars and the Good Conduct Medal. I am currently trying to receive information to apply for the Purple Heart for his injuries on December 23rd, 1951.

 Charles returned to his family in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida after his discharge. Ricky was now an active 2 1/2 year old and surely did not recognize his father. On April 22nd, 1955, Esther gave birth to a daughter, Donna Marie, at Broward General Hospital in Ft. Lauderdale.

Esther and Donna Marie in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 1955

 Charles remained in the US Air Reserve with the 2585th Air Reserve Flying Center in Miami from 1954 to 1958. He began to work with his father in construction, a prosperous career that followed them north to Brevard County in the late 1950s.

 The families moved to Spruce Hills west of Mims, Florida; just north of Titusville and the future home of the US space program. Dale and Charles worked on many projects throughout the County; building malls and schools and residential neighborhoods. As the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral AFS began to grow, Charles worked on the construction projects which built the future. He worked on the Vehicle Assembly Building and on the launch pads for the Apollo missions in the 1960s.

 Rick, after graduating from Titusville High School in 1967, joined the US Army that same year and was stationed at Ft. Bliss, Texas in El Paso as a radar repair technician. He had married Marsha Bedelia Gillis of Titusville in 1968 and had their first son, Michael Brian Shimer, on October 4th, 1969 in El Paso. Charles and Esther celebrated their 25th Wedding Anniversary on August 28th, 1973.

Charles and Esther on their 25th Wedding Anniversary in 1973

 Esther suffered from a stroke in 1976 which left her in a nursing home for the rest of her life. Charles stuck by her through this trying time, but eventually met a nurse named Catherine Sanders. They lived together in common law for many years.

 Esther passed away on June 4th 1996 in Ormond Beach, Florida after a short struggle with cancer. Charles and Catherine were married in 1997, but Charles' health was slowly taking a turn for the worse. Still suffering pain from his back injury in Korea many years before, Charles had gained weight and was having trouble getting around. On November 21st, 1998, he passed away in his bed at home in Port St. John, Florida. Both Charles and Esther are buried next to each other at the Oaklawn Memorial Gardens in Titusville.

From left to right: The author (Michael B. Shimer), Charles Willard "Chuck" Shimer, Philip Richard "Rick" Shimer, and Christopher Brian Shimer (in front).
Four generations of Shimers in 1996, at Rick Shimer's house in Mims, Florida following Esther L. Shimer's funeral

At his funeral, Catherine read the following eulogy:

The Man
by Katie Shimer

 Even stating early in his young adult life, Chuck had to do it his way. At the age of 16 he ran off, joining the Merchant Marines. Upon being wounded, while in the hospital, his Commander asked him a question, "Son, how old are you?" "Eighteen, Sir," he replies. His Commander then tells him, "Well I have a sweet little lady outside who says she is your mother and that you are only 16." So, of course, they return home and he finishes high school, where upon graduating he joins the Army Air Corps. Later, in 1948, while in the United States Air Force, stationed in Denver, Colorado, he finds the love, hope and fulfillment of his dreams with a beautiful woman. They have two wonderful children.

After the military, he works with his dad in construction as a Carpenter. Using hammers and nails, they built projects throughout Brevard County, Florida. The buildings grew from homes to school houses and college buildings and then to malls until he finishes with construction projects the head right to outer space with the Space Center.

This man asked nothing from anyone but his vows to love, honor and cherish were kept with no complaints. When the time finally came that he had to ask for help, it must have been the most difficult time of his life. Chuck always thought that he must do things by himself.

In this, he almost lost himself and faltered with the weight, as you see, he was only a man. Some could not understand his way. He lost position, prestige and material growth and he finally retired by his choice. He continued without complaint. Nevertheless, you see he was a tall man, so big in his own strength and courage, and a heart so full of love. He only knew one way; that was to give quietly of himself to family, friends, and others that he loved. He did not know how to receive for himself; he only knew how to give, as that was his way.

However, I have learned many things from this man. Perhaps, someday, I can grow to have some of his courage and inner strength. Then perhaps it can be said of me, a job well done.

Of the precious uncut diamond, I will always remember the beautiful blue eyes that twinkled when he laughed. I will remember the man that filled a room with such brightness and love. Chuck... you are already missed, but you will never be forgotten.

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