Charles C. Schuessler
Charles C. Schuessler died at his home May 18. He as 72 years old.
Born in Ft. Sumner, New Mexico on January 3, 1942, he was born of Native American parents, and was proud of his heritage.
His mother showed him herbs and plants, and he learned to survive and find water in the deserts of the Southwest. He was the ultra-survivalist before it became a fad. He learned to ride a horse at a young age, and for the rest of his life, loved the animals and the care of them. He hunted rabbits and explored the canyons near his home. He fished in the Pecos River, and helped his father build the Billy the Kid Museum on Ft. Sumner.
His young life was cut short when his father, a demolition expert, was severely injured as the Alamogordo Dam was being built on the Pecos River. Long before the days of Workman’s Comp, and social programs, the family was plunged into poverty, with Charles having to quit school in eighth grade to help his mother bring money into the house to feed his younger siblings. He picked fruit, milked cows, baled hay, and did odd jobs.
In 1956, the family moved to California for better job opportunities, where Charles learned the auto body trade from an uncle who showed him how to restore cars and paint, a trade that fascinated him his adult life.
He met his wife, Sue Ellen Brown, and in June of 1960, they were married in Riverside, Calif. Six children were born to them: Robert, David, Sharie, Brenda, Loren, and Kathie. Sharie preceded him in death in 1965.
When the events of the sixties became a factor in California, he knew he didn’t want his family to grow up there, and moved them to Texas where the family values matched his own. It also allowed him to pursue his love of horses, a love he had passed on to all his children. He entered in rodeos, and won a silver buckle for bronc riding in Fort Worth, Texas.
He pursued the automotive field, restoring vintage cars for high end clientele, and worked with A.J. Foyt on motors for Indy in the days before the rules changed where whoever brought the best “mousetrap” to the track won.
When unibody cars came out, he was one of the first body men to learn how to use the frame machine to put cars into specs and because of that knowledge, was in demand all over the country to teach others to use it. His travels ended in Georgia 32 years ago, and at that time, he was one of the five best frame technicians in the U.S. His last job was at Riverside Ford in Macon where he worked for 15 years.
In addition to his wife of 54 years, Sue, he had four grandchildren: Justin Haizlip (Brittany), Candace Thomaston (Drew), Kristen Schuessler, and Jessie Wyatt. He taught all of them to ride horses, and his granddaughter, Jessie, like him, won the Reserve Grand Champion at NBHA in Conyers in 2011.
He also leaves behind three great-grandchildren, Landon and Laney Thomaston and Jackson Haizlip, all of Monitcello.
There will be no local services. The body was cremated, and burial will take place in New Mexico at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Apache Indian Reservation in New Mexico in his name.