Charles Arthur Tinsley (1919 - 2005)

Charles Arthur Tinsley, 86, of Duluth, died Sunday, Aug. 7, 2005 in Duluth. He is survived by his wife, Carol; daughter, Linda (Nick) of Golden, Colo.; sons, James (Liz) of Duluth and Ronald (Callie) of Superior; daughter, Sandra (Kurt) of Rochester, Minn.; and son, Michael (Anne) of Duluth.

FUNERAL SERVICE:10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, 2005 in First Memorial Funeral Chapel, 4100 Grand Ave. Visitation from 9 a.m.-10 a.m. Interment at Sunrise Memorial Park. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the family. Services entrusted to First Memorial Funeral Chapel, 624-5050

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Sandy's father died last Sunday. Ron called up in the morning to give Sandy the bad news. Sandy left Sunday evening to go to Duluth to help her brothers and Carol to make funeral arrangements. I told Sandy that she'd be OK leaving the children with me, and she was. Annika and I watched a movie Sunday night, and the twins went to bed fine. In the morning we went grocery shopping, bought Sandy some flowers, and had an otherwise normal day. Annika and I also made Rumpadoodle cookies, and I smoked a chicken so there would be a good dinner when Sandy got home. The next day, Tuesday, I went to work late and came home early, but I wish I could have been home for Sandy. On Wednesday evening my mom called me. She had been vacationing on the Gunflint Trail at Loon Lake and had just driven to Erik's to sit Asli on Wednesday morning. She said that she thought she should go to the funeral, but she didn't have any clothes to wear. She gave me a list of what she wanted me to get for her, and I drove over late that night and got it. The next morning we all drove up to Duluth.

I first met Charles and Carol soon after Sandy and I started dating, and I thought he was a very funny guy. He seemed to delight in telling stories about Sandy when she was little, some of which Sandy had told me already. A couple of them were a little embarrasing, but stories from our childhood often are. In truth. what most surprised me about Charles was how readily and easily he made me feel like a member of the family. I guess that's what struck me about him the most. In my family I think that people are looked at a bit sideways until they marry in, but Charles accepted me right away and always seemed genuinely happy to see and hear from me. And for that I am grateful to him.