Charles Lawrence Piette

Charles Lawrence Piette turns 60 today. He is the oldest of the 7 Piette kids, and the first of all of Abbie Marin deGravelles and Percy J deGravelles' 37 grandchildren. As he enters his seventh decade, I think it is time to write a little tribute. 

 

Charles Lawrence Piette

Chas around 2 two years old

Mark and Chas

 Charlie has had three themes in his life: Learning, Teaching, and Sharing. He has been relentless in his search for knowledge, an unending desire to impart that knowledge on others, and a generosity of spirit and body that makes him a wonderful companion and brother.

 

 

Mark, our mother, Chas, our father

 

Chas was eight when I was born. So he was certainly aware of the implications of having yet another baby in the house (I am five of seven). He was always the stable, rational one of the kids (his entry to the Seminary notwithstanding). But every memory of Chas from my early youth was one of a teacher. He may have experimented with the younger kids, but it was all about helping us learn. (Do you want an Indian Snake Bite? No? Are you SURE??? If I throw your tennis shoes on the roof, how do you think you will get them down?) 

Chas, Mark, and Mel

I remember quite clearly when he went off to Oneida to enter the Seminary. It seemed like it was a million miles away – the drive seemed to have taken many hours. It was very odd not having him in the house (he went for his High School years - 8^th through 12^th grade, if I recall correctly) but he was around during the summers. He used the years at Oneida to hone his ability to learn, to understand the details of rhetoric, theology, and Latin. To this day there are many topics on which he can expound because of his seminarial training.

 

Mark, Mel, Dan (the baby), Chas, and Abbie

 

He and brother Mark built a “Museum” in our basement that included a stuffed baby alligator, a starfish, a conch shell, a "how to make paper" exhibit and more. Neighbors and friends came to see it. He and Mark used the museum to teach neighbors, friends, and family about the natural world around us. It was an example of teaching and sharing all rolled into one.

 

Chas, Abbie, Mark, Mel

Chas and Dan, Chas on his way to the seminary

 

Chas loved being a teacher. I can remember him (this must have been after his first year in UW-Madison) teaching me about Statics – or the science of calculating things such how to build a bridge. We would go through (with paper, pencil, and slide rule) how we could balance a 2x4 with him on one side and me on the other – where we needed to put the single support. Then we would go out into the back yard and test the calculations. He also taught me calculus – multi variant calculations optimizing fruit production where you have variable yield and prices from a given orchard. It put me ahead of my colleagues in High School Math.

 

Dan, Ree, Mark, Abbie, Chas, Mel, Matt

 

He let me visit him in Madison while he was a Mechanical Engineering student at UW during summer school one summer. I was so amazed by that school and by the way “adults” lived. You could just eat bacon for supper if that is what you wanted! You could stay up until all hours watching scary movies! I went to the computer science lab and learned how to program in Fortran IV. Remember, this is when a computer filled a room, and to run a program you had to use punch cards. So giving a 13 year old kid access to such technologies was quite a step. This was a significant part of my becoming an adult - realizing that I had to take the information I had at my hands and make decisions with it. Decisions that would affect my life. Bacon or Cheesecake for dinner? Which would make me feel better in two hours?

 

Mark, Dan, Matt, Ree, Mel, Chas, Abbie

 

We often played board games that simulated car racing, railroads, business, and war. Mostly the Civil War. So I, too, learned how to play board games, learned about cars, and studied business history.

 

 

In fact, Chas loved games of all sorts. Chess, backgammon, sheepshead, euchre. We would play most games for money (what is the point if you have nothing to lose?) and learn about risk taking, odds calculation, and prayer. (Please God, if I only get a double six on this roll I will never ask you for anything ever again!) I learned how to make decisions quickly and make decisions firmly. These games were a trial for real life. Playing them with Chas just made them a better trial.

 

He gave me a copy of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged and suggested that would be a good thing to read. Heady stuff for a nerdy 16 year old kid. We would talk about the implications of such a philosophy.

 

When he graduated from UW as a Mechanical Engineer, he moved to San Francisco and started building Nuclear Power Plants for Bechtel. He flew me out for a visit when I was 15 years old. I fell in love with cities, and in particular San Francisco. He shared his love with San Francisco (Don't call it Frisco!) with me wholeheartedly. How could anyone NOT want to live in a place where everything was at your fingertips! I had my first Japanese food, and was instructed on how to use (and the importance of using) chopsticks. (Later in life, while eating at numerous banquets in Beijing, I was frequently complimented on my use of chopsticks. I always told the story of how my older brother taught me how to use them) We ate dim-sum and watched roasted chicken's feet roll by on the cart. We went to my first “Broadway” musical (Gigi – and Agnes Moorehead played the grandmother!) We ate strawberry sundaes from Ghirardelli for lunch, and pizza for supper. I never wanted to leave. I was treated like an adult, and embraced every moment of that trip. San Francisco remains a special place for me because of the many times I spent with Chas there.

 

Chas and Dan in San Francisco in 1973

When I got to Madison myself, I would get frequent calls from him during the day just to chat. We would talk about engineering and his job, we would talk about the City and some of the great wine and food he was eating. His friends, too, would occasionally call. Especially if they had a question about snakes. He was still in San Francisco, and I had many reasons to go out there myself. I got to know his neighborhood and the City. Chas would send articles about entrepreneurship and company start-ups. About people who would risk everything on a good (or a bad) idea and travel all over the world to find adventure and to make a living. That is what I wanted to do – and that is what influenced me for much of my career.

 

Chas in San Francisco

 

Chas's approach to life reinforced the view that you could get anything done you wanted to do. He moved to Los Angeles to change his life, and then in the oil boom of the early 1980s he moved to Midland, TX - without a job. He bought a house (Still without a job) and proceeded to work in the engineering and construction business that was booming there at the time. He was willing to take risks because he had the confidence in his ability to succeed. It was inspiring to watch.

 

Charlie also loved to be part of the latest technology. He and I both bought Apple Macintosh computers as soon as they were released. We joined GEnie, an early approximation of the Internet, to swap e-mail and to engage in sometimes raucous online debates with many folks we never met. We learned from each other and from the group as technology evolved to take a major role in our lives. I moved into the software business as a livelihood - largely because of lessons I had learned with Chas.

 

Chas in Wauwatosa

 

Whenever Chas decided to become involved in a new interest, he attacked it with gusto. Whether it was maps, pens, computers, rare books, or guns, he became an expert in short order and was eager to share his knowledge. I learned about book collecting, house plants, fountain pens, and cooking because Chas became interested in them.

 

Chas in Galveston

Chas still lives to learn, teach, and share. I think many on this list look forward to his "How to learn something new" e-mail each January. I know I eagerly look forward to his yearly book list e-mail, where he compiles (without judgment) people's list of their best books of the year. Those are always important seasonal messages that I enjoy.

 

Chas in Lander, WY

Happy Birthday Chas. You have been an inspiration, and you deserve to know it.

 

Love,

 

Dan