Monday, June 2, 2008 11:50 AM EDT
At 99, Dyson says it has been a good life, so far
 Charles Dyson of Carolina turns 100 on June 24, and says it's been a wonderful life. |
CAROLINA – So far, even through its challenges, 99-year-old Charles Dyson says it’s been a wonderful life.
The life-long resident has “seen the world,” built a summer house that survived two deadly hurricanes and found a woman that he was subsequently married to for more than 50 years.
“I’ve had a good life,” he said. “I did things I wanted to all my life, and that makes it good.”
And during his time, he said he “made a business of helping everyone that I could.”
Dyson was born in Richmond in 1908 and grew up on a farm in Charlestown. He said he took care of his youngest brother – then an infant – after a fire from nearby railroad tracks blew toward the farm. Everything was lost except for the house, and “the state took my [other] brothers and sisters.”
After graduating from Westerly High School, where he took a woodworking class, Dyson became a carpenter, first hired by his neighbor to fix their roof and garage door. A self-employed worker, he said he built houses, barns and chicken coops.
Dyson moved to Richmond in 1927, but also built a summer house in Charlestown, where he said he often went fishing for fluke and caught enough to fill the freezer for the winter. The house was so skillfully made that it survived the Hurricane of 1938, and it stood against Hurricane Carol in 1954.
In addition to fishing, he said he also enjoyed trips to Maine to hunt for deer with his friends.
Dyson enlisted in the Navy during World War II, despite opposition from his wife, Hazel Holman, the first female town clerk in Richmond. At 35 years old, he said he “was too old for the draft, but I figured I should go. The country was worth it.”
As a carpenter’s mate, Dyson’s duties included maintaining the wooden boats on the ship that sailed to the Pacific. “We never got shot at, we were lucky,” he said about his two years of service.
Back in Richmond, Dyson was the caretaker of Wood River Cemetery for more than 40 years. He said the area used to be a patch of weeds, but as soon as he cleared a gravesite, someone would purchase it.
For years, Dyson cared for his wife at their home until she died in 2002 at age 90. His wife battled Alzheimer’s disease, which some of her other relatives had.
“I didn’t want to give my kids that damn, hideous disease,” he said on why the couple did not have children.
As Dyson nears 100 on June 24, he is proud to still live in his home, not one of those “300-dollar-a-night rooms,” his reference to a nursing home. Until this past year, he grew vegetables in his garden, which included beans, squash and tomatoes.
“I didn’t care too much for tomatoes, but my friends did,” he said.
vgoff@thewesterlysun.com
The life-long resident has “seen the world,” built a summer house that survived two deadly hurricanes and found a woman that he was subsequently married to for more than 50 years.
“I’ve had a good life,” he said. “I did things I wanted to all my life, and that makes it good.”
And during his time, he said he “made a business of helping everyone that I could.”
Dyson was born in Richmond in 1908 and grew up on a farm in Charlestown. He said he took care of his youngest brother – then an infant – after a fire from nearby railroad tracks blew toward the farm. Everything was lost except for the house, and “the state took my [other] brothers and sisters.”
After graduating from Westerly High School, where he took a woodworking class, Dyson became a carpenter, first hired by his neighbor to fix their roof and garage door. A self-employed worker, he said he built houses, barns and chicken coops.
Dyson moved to Richmond in 1927, but also built a summer house in Charlestown, where he said he often went fishing for fluke and caught enough to fill the freezer for the winter. The house was so skillfully made that it survived the Hurricane of 1938, and it stood against Hurricane Carol in 1954.
In addition to fishing, he said he also enjoyed trips to Maine to hunt for deer with his friends.
Dyson enlisted in the Navy during World War II, despite opposition from his wife, Hazel Holman, the first female town clerk in Richmond. At 35 years old, he said he “was too old for the draft, but I figured I should go. The country was worth it.”
As a carpenter’s mate, Dyson’s duties included maintaining the wooden boats on the ship that sailed to the Pacific. “We never got shot at, we were lucky,” he said about his two years of service.
Back in Richmond, Dyson was the caretaker of Wood River Cemetery for more than 40 years. He said the area used to be a patch of weeds, but as soon as he cleared a gravesite, someone would purchase it.
For years, Dyson cared for his wife at their home until she died in 2002 at age 90. His wife battled Alzheimer’s disease, which some of her other relatives had.
“I didn’t want to give my kids that damn, hideous disease,” he said on why the couple did not have children.
As Dyson nears 100 on June 24, he is proud to still live in his home, not one of those “300-dollar-a-night rooms,” his reference to a nursing home. Until this past year, he grew vegetables in his garden, which included beans, squash and tomatoes.
“I didn’t care too much for tomatoes, but my friends did,” he said.
vgoff@thewesterlysun.com
Karen wrote on Jun 7, 2008 3:06 PM:
" 99 imagine that...all the stories he must have. Hopefully, he will receive a call from the President of the United States of America on his 100th birthday! "
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