Todd
Updated - May 31st - Final Arrangements confirmed
Dear Family and Friends,
Our Father, and loving Husband to our Mother Ellie, passed away suddenly on May 21st while traveling through Dallas/Fort Worth airport. He and our Mother were traveling together at the time. Scott, Greg and her Sister Fran all arrived in Dallas within hours on the 21st. With heavy hearts we all returned to Boca Raton a few days later to continue with all the arrangements. He will be particularly missed by his Grandchildren Charlie III, Taylor, Kimberly, Kelsey, Stephanie and Lindsay.
We want to thank everyone for the outpouring of heartfelt support. It has been tremendous and coming from all corners of the globe. Charlie was an international business man who rose to prominence quickly in the beverage industry where he led several companies throughout his long career. His business relationships were almost always friendships and like his friendships, they were deep, sincere and long lasting.
We are having two Memorial Celebrations that will be open to all who knew our father. We know there will be tears, although we want to hear more of the laughter and joy he spread to so many people throughout his life.
The first Memorial Celebration will be in Boca Raton, FL on the 21st of June. The next will be in his beloved hometown of Gowanda, NY on the 2nd of August. Please see details below.
We have created this website to share with Charlie’s family and friends to honor the remarkable life of a great man. Please feel free to post comments, stories or photos. If Charlie touched your life, we hope you will share that so that his Grandchildren will forever know the full measure of this legendary man.
With deepest thanks,
Scott and Greg
Memorial Celebration - Boca Raton
Saturday, June 21st at 3pm
Via Mizner Golf & Country Club
6200 Boca Del Mar Drive
Boca Raton, FL 33433
(561) 392-7991
http://www.viamiznergcc.com/
For directions:
Memorial Celebration - Gowanda, NY
Saturday, August 2
Schnindler Funeral Home
44 Center St, Gowanda, NY 14070
(716) 532-4200
12:00pm - Visitation
2:00pm - Memorial Celebration
3:00pm - Reception at the Moose Lodge
Moose Lodge
201 Aldrich Street
Gowanda, NY 14070
(716) 532-4882
For directions:
Schindler Funeral Home:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Schindler+Funeral+Home/@42.463931,-78.937851,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89d2e8c82fb4f569:0xd5197e79c84c6210?hl=en
Moose Lodge:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/201+Aldrich+St/@42.469304,-78.940698,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x89d2e8b9f984f6c9:0xa1c50cf18603cb88?hl=en
In lieu of sending flowers or any other gifts, we would like to request you honor Charlie’s memory with a donation in his name to any, or all, of the following animal rescues. This was his specific desire. Each of these were known personally by Charlie and saving animals was his only indulgence in life. They are small independent charities run by individuals whom Charlie admired and respected.
God Bless you all:
Catitude Inc.
9169 SW 16th Road E.
Boca Raton, FL 33428
Attn: Margaret DeSantis
561-306-7923
Tax ID 80-0349570
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CHESED Foundation
10393 Canoe Brook
Boca Raton, FL 33498
Attn: Bobbi Miller
561-213-5773
Tax ID 20-1174559
http://www.chesed-rescue.org/
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A Better Life Rescue
15757 Pines Blvd #309
Pembroke Pines, FL 33029
Attn: Cira Leslie
305-978-0059
Tax ID 27-3257599
http://www.abetterlifepetrescue.com/
Tributes
Leave a tributeTodd
― A.A. Milne, Christopher Robin - To Charlie's Family & Friends - I am sorry for your loss. I don't know most of you but I had the honor of meeting Charlie several times through out the years and I am glad for that.
I had the pleasure to know and work with Charlie for many years at the Sidney Frank Imp Co.
All that had the privilege of knowing him will agree that he was the ultimate gentleman a consummate professional and a perfectionist.
We not only worked together but we became friends. Charlie and I have stayed in touch for all the years since my retirement and I’ll miss our calls and e-mails greatly. Many will know that my dad was also a friend of Charlie and Ellie. I know that Charlie, my dad and Sidney are together someplace doing a shot of Jager.
Tom Bruno
Cira
God bless you Charlie and my condolences to your family.
-Jack
We have only known Charlie and Ellie a few years and sure enjoyed their company. I wished I had known Charlie longer than I did, He was a great guy to be with. Our deepest sympathy to Ellie and Family.
Carl and Alyce Colburn
Thank you for sharing this wonderful website with us and the photos its a beautiful tribute to him.
He will be missed and I am truly blessed to have called him friend.
Sincerely,
Amy and Brian Schroeder
Thank you for sharing Charlie with all of us.
I have only known him a few short years but greatly appreciate the kindness and patience he has shown while teaching me "the ropes".
He will be missed by so many...
"Some people come into our lives, leave footprints on our
hearts, and we are never the same."
-- Author unknown
Charlie and Ellie became firm friends and visited my wife Josephine and I in Ireland .Charlie deeply understood that business is a partnership where both sides must benefit and his wise council helped us lay the ground work for a business that thrives to this day. Integrity ,a total lack of ego [not a common New York trait !], a profound wish to help others, a twinkle in the eye and a love of family these were the the marks of an extraordinary man. Charlie was one of life's givers who enriched the lives of those who entered his orbit. May he rest in God's peace
due to Charlie's incredible loyalty to his friends over his lifetime. Over the years our paths had an uncanny way of crossing. On more than one occasion Charlie was there for me when fortunes were low, He was an amazing guy who will not be forgotten. Charlie and his sons and me and my son remain in mutual contact and hopefully one day soon the four of us can get together to share some of our favorite Charlie Sipple stories. For now my prayers are with Ellie, Scott and Greg and the extended Sipple family. My heart is full of sorrow but also with gratitude for having had such a great friend for so long.
It goes without saying that Mr. Sipple was one of the most revered (and liked) parents in the community, as a constant figure at all sporting events. Knowing how hard he worked in his career, I often wondered where he found the time or energy, but he always did. Beyond this, the Sipples were always the first people to open their homes for post-game celebrations, and truly fostered the sense of community amongst the parents and teammates.
Cheers to a great man, role model, husband, father and grandfather. You'll always be missed, but never forgotten.
I am so sorry for your loss. Charlie was one of the finest and kindest people that I have known. Whether it was in NY (1st round or 2nd) or the hospitality that Charlie and Ellie showed us in Thousand Oaks, Charlie always was warm and welcoming. If it weren't for Charlie, I would not know the best way to make a quick exit from a Rangers game, or how adeptly a Cadi could handle rt. 120. Those are some memories I have carried with me for 40 years (give or take), but the most important thing I recollect, is that he always had a smile, kind words and a sense of humor to share with those around him. A truly fine gentleman.
Phil Pactor
Peggy Donovan
of course he was a year and a half older so he nerver noticed me as much as I noticed him....But he was always fun. Gowanda is a very small town and everyone knows everyone. The years passed and as I had a liquor store for many years I kept abreast of his activities. then several years ago, He and Don Milligan had us find a place to have a mini r eunion in Lake Wales, Fl. After that first year, Chuck took it over and I think he just loved having everyone get together. I know we will continue, but he surely will be missed. Our sympathy to Ellie and the family. He was such a gentleman !!!! So kind to those in need of help.
David and Marilyn Reid
I watched Scott and Greg grow up to become every bit the gentleman their Dad has been. Charlie (Chuck) was always gracious when I went to visit them…from upstate NY to California to Florida…the door was always OPEN and the glass was always FULL.
Here’s a poem that reflects how I feel about Charlie, who will always be Chuck to me!
Little did we know that morning that God would call your name
In life we loved you dearly; in death we do the same.
It broke our hearts to lose you, you did not go alone.
For part of us went with you the day God called you home.
You left us peaceful memories; your love is still our guide.
And though we cannot see you, you are always on our side.
Our family chain is broken and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one, the chain will link again.
He was a truly genuine person in the spirits business, what you saw was what you got from Charlie. He was a Gem. I will always remember a great weekend with He and Ellie and my wife in Charleston SC. We had Charlie and Ellie jumping from Fort Sumter to Bay St
Ellie and family our prayers and thoughts are with you at this time of need.
-Andrew
Our dear friend....
It's been a difficult afternoon, a close and very special man has passed on to a more peaceful place leaving broken hearts and great memories behind him.
Today, the company put out an email that was a great snapshot of the wonderful man and human being Charlie Sipple lived his life as. Every great quality that you seek in a person close to you...he possessed it and lived it. He was such a strong family man and a genuine friend above any other role he held. I'm so proud to have known him...to have him as my mentor and leader through the years, BUT above all....to be blessed to call him my friend. (Those dots are one of his leave behinds). And, while I'm so very sad I won't hear his voice calling my name (I can recall it, exactly how he would say it each time), I will think of how he referred to us as "Charlie's Angels" ......now, he will always be ours!!
I'll miss him so dearly for so many reasons. One, for me, was the way he encouraged me to live....staying true to what's really important in life...the balance I needed to be reminded of from time to time with family always being #1. I know my own sadness, so with that, my heart goes out to Ellie, (he always took that call) as she mourns the days without him...I pray for her.
While I write this with a heavy heart, I find solace in his passing on. I know that he lived every moment doing what he loved, along the side of the people he loved, who loved him just as much. He's shared so many significant milestones of our lives with us, supporting us at every twist.
The last time we were all together, we celebrated with "George" and everyone by drinking from our SE division trophy (which he held near and dear to his heart long after giving us to Michael, still holding us close to him like a protective father). Nevertheless, my last memory we shared was the toast to our new venture with "casamigos" and that is really what he had....a house of friends....always around him.
Can you imagine the stories in heaven?!?
With love and the highest respect.....Cheers to my, our, friend....until next time w see you!
Big hug and kiss to all of you while you remember him in your own special way :)
- Clarence, It’s a Wonderful Life
Charles E. Sipple was an incredible man, but you all, already know that. A couple of weeks ago, I flew down to Boca Raton and had the honor of getting to meet some of his friends, everyone seemed so grateful to have him in their lives. On that trip, something became very evident other than just the fact the he was a very loved man, and that is that he was so proud of his two sons and his grandchildren. My grandfather was a stubborn man and was very set in his ways but there was nothing he wouldn’t to for a friend. I always found it to be a little astonishing that he would go out of his way for complete, and utter strangers. He has had such a profound affect on my life and I will always have been blessed to been able to have him as a role model in my life. After getting very little sleep last night, I woke up and looked at myself in the mirror, the whites of my eyes were now a reddish color and there were ugly poufy bags under my eyes, yet despite all this the irises were still the same soft blue. They were the same blue as my grandfather’s. I’ve been in somewhat a state of shock since receiving the news of his passing but I have since come to the realization that he is still here with us, I can still pieces of him in my siblings and I, but mostly I see him in my father. The goodness from all of the lives he has touched is still there, and I can honestly say that this world is better place for having him in it. He is already missed by those who loved him.
Kimberly
He took wonderful care of our mother, Ida, after taking wonderful care of his two gorgeous sons, Scott and Greg, and always taking wonderful care of my sister. Once I had my own two gorgeous sons, Charlie became their god father and friend. We just were together this weekend and had the best "Last Supper" at Gervasi Winery in Canton, Ohio. Charlie was at his best. He talked about his time with George Cooney, about his world wide travels, about his hopes for Andrew, Sarah, Jonathan, Elian and Oren and his wishes for his six grandchildren.
Like Oliver Twist we can say without hesitation "Please sir, we want more." Yes, we want more time with him, but we take solace in knowing that he will never be forgotten by so many people.
That time
I thought I could not
go any closer to grief
without dying
I went closer,
and I did not die.
Surely God
had his hand in this,
as well as friends.
Still, I was bent,
and my laughter,
as the poet said,
was nowhere to be found.
Then said my friend Daniel,
(brave even among lions),
"It's not the weight you carry
but how you carry it -
books, bricks, grief -
it's all in the way
you embrace it, balance it, carry it
when you cannot, and would not,
put it down."
So I went practicing.
Have you noticed?
Have you heard
the laughter
that comes, now and again,
out of my startled mouth?
How I linger
to admire, admire, admire
the things of this world
that are kind, and maybe
also troubled -
roses in the wind,
the sea geese on the steep waves,
a love
to which there is no reply?
- Mary Oliver
I chose to share this poem because frankly I don't even know how to process all of this, and I think that it says a lot of things I would say/wish I could say/hope I will be able to say in the future. All I'm really able to articulate right now is that the last time I saw my grandpa, I appreciated his company more than I had in a long time. In my years of burgeoning adulthood I hadn't seen him much and had conflicting feelings about my perceptions of how well he and I would get along as adults. But something was different the last time I saw him; maybe he was warmer, maybe I was more open-hearted, but either way I noticed a change in the dynamic that was positive and something I was looking forward to experiencing more of. It's such a hard-to-grasp and deeply saddening thought that I won't be able to, but I'm glad that I at least was able to have a very positive last interaction with him in addition to so many childhood memories. My thoughts are with anyone else grappling with the confusion, genuine shock, and profound sadness that I'm feeling today.
Shared sorrow is less...
When we meet again, we will REJOICE
Scott, Susan, Taylor, Kelsey and Lindsay
Leave a Tribute
It’s been ten years and I still miss you. My regret is not being able to say goodbye. You could be a pain in the ass but you were a good guy.
Always yours,
“Me”
The older I get the more I miss you.
Always yours, “Me”
Superbowl XI
I haven't seen Mr. Sipple (I'm almost 53 but he will always be Mr. Sipple) in decades. I remember being devastated when the Sipples moved back to New York and giving my entire baseball card collection to Greg not knowing what else to do. Of course they returned before I even stopped crying and he had used most of them in his bike spokes but whatcha gonna do? I too had a famous Dad who knew everyone but while mine was off changing the world, the Sipples included me in their family life and believe me I was a handful. I will always be grateful to this man and his family for showing me compassion and how to just have a great time when I was a kid. Well maybe not Scott, he always thought I was annoying, but the rest of them for sure! As I once wrote in a song chorus "I used to be a bother back when I was a kid. I learned how to be a Father, by doing what Chuck Sipple always did" Heaven is going to have a much better welcome buffet when we get there now! God bless you...
I first met Charlie as a client when I was in NYC. Over the years we stayed in touch and every once in a while we would see each other. He was indeed the consumate gentleman, and while we hadn't seen each other for a few years I thought of him often. Jeanie nd I send our sincere condolences to Ellie, though late they may be.