Charles F. Thousand

Charles F. "Chuck" Thousand of Sioux City passed silently into God’s arms through the grace of his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, on Friday, June 28, 2013, after losing his soul mate and a long battle with debilitating illness.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Wednesday at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, with the family attending 6 to 8 p.m., at Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.
Chuck arrived fortuitously into this world on June 8, 1928, in Cedar Rapids, the third son of Adolph and Clara (Bruns) Thousand. His birth literally saved the fortune, if not the lives, of his parents and brothers, who postponed moving to Germany to join a family business until Chuck was big enough to travel. The delay saved them from sharing the fate of uncles and aunts who were either exiled or thrown into prison as Germany plummeted into the political abyss.
In Iowa, growing up on the adventures of Buck Rogers and Batman, Chuck was fascinated for life by aviation, fast cars and aerospace engineering. (He let all his children stay up late to watch man’s first landing on the moon, and he openly wept when Astronaut Armstrong took that "giant leap for mankind.")
Chuck also shared his motor-engineering father’s sharp mind and wood-working dexterity, and just like his dad, soon became adept at building just about anything from the ground up. Those same dexterous hands also translated into Chuck’s love of playing the organ and drums - until basketballs lured him away to hoop stardom at CR’s McKinley High, where he graduated in 1946. And although he was too young to have served in World War II alongside his two older brothers, Chuck’s deep-seated patriotism inspired him to join the Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) while enrolled at the University of Iowa.
On Aug. 14, 1948, Chuck married the love of his life, Rae Rodeen of Sioux City, whom he had met summers before at Lutheran Lakeside Camp in Okoboji. They said, "I do," and he said, "Let’s go," and did they ever. Chuck lived his life like his favorite Frank Sinatra song, "My Way." He discovered he had an affinity and flair for selling insurance, and found great success building his own agency and later, a great firm in the partnership of Britton, Greenstone, Temple & Thousand.
His commitment to his family and their education had led Chuck early on to turn down a major career promotion that would have sent him to Boston or Chicago, in order to stay in Iowa and raise his kids in a safe state with the highest literacy rate in the country. And he so believed in the importance of a college education, that in addition to putting his own kids through college, Chuck also quietly helped several of his kids’ friends meet their university expenses, too.
A devoted father and supporter of his children’s sports and musical activities, Chuck served a stint as Cub Scoutmaster of Pack 207, where he organized an "Adopt a Serviceman" project in 1967 to send gifts to those fighting in Vietnam, plus a clothing drive for Vietnamese children.
Chuck also threw himself heart-and-soul into campaigning to pass the 1960s school bond issue to build three new high schools in Sioux City, all at one time, a $13.7 million construction project ($75 million in 2013 dollars) that was considered unprecedented for its time. The bond issue passed and the three new buildings (East, North and West high schools, to replace Central, Leeds, Riverside and the old East High) opened in 1972.
As a staunch supporter of Siouxland, Chuck worked tirelessly on its behalf to bring new business to the area, and to develop and improve the overall economy through his involvement on the Industrial Development Council and the Sioux City Chamber of Commerce. Chuck was an active member for over 50 years of several community-service organizations, including the Masonic Lodge (Morningside Lodge No. 615), Abu-Bekr Shrine White Horse Mounted Patrol, Sioux City Consistory No. 5, Royal Order of Jesters and Scottish Rite of Free Masonry.
Chuck was an avid golfer, boater and "Huck Finn Cruiser," and relished the summer boat trips he helped engineer down the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans with his gal and his pals, brothers Leo and Ray Burnight and their wives. Chuck and Rae eventually retired to the 16th Green of Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, where he enjoyed golfing in the annual Pro-Am Tournament of the Dinah Shore LPGA Golf Championship Tournament.
What few people knew was just how gifted and prolific a poet Chuck was. Contrary to popular opinion, and to the utter surprise and delight of his children, Chuck was a hopeless romantic. Witty verse appeared early on in his marriage when he enchanted his beloved Rae with rhyming treasure hunt clues for finding her Christmas presents. But it was in his poetry penned for his kids for special occasions, a new job, a birthday, a graduation, that Chuck’s overwhelming love for family really shown through.
In retirement, Chuck found new, full-time diversions as a web page-building guru and crossword-puzzle enthusiast. But it was in his later years, when his beloved Rae was felled by a series of strokes, that Chuck took on the greatest role of his life, as Rae’s primary caregiver. When Chuck’s and Rae’s health declined, they returned to Sioux City to be closer to family they adored.
Chuck leaves behind his four children, Greg (Judy), Luanne, Ray and Richard (Elaine); nine grandchildren, Corey (Jen), Stacey (Matt), Kyle, Cris (Bo), Tina (Jerome), Matt, Teresa (Jon), Christopher and Alex; 10 great-grandchildren, Chastity, Sadie, Chandler, Ryan, Luke, Evan, Ava, Skylar, Jonathan and Noah; his sister-in-law, Dorothea Thousand of Newport Beach, Calif.; his brother-in-law, James Rodeen of Colorado Springs, Colo.; nieces and nephews; and treasured caretaker, Krystal White.
Chuck was preceded in death by his one and only true love, wife Rae; his parents; his brothers, John and Walter Thousand; his sister-in-law, Connie (Cole) Rodeen; and niece Melissa Rodeen.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be directed to Hospice of Siouxland.