My Cousin Charlie

A great loss.


My cousin, Charlie Kraihanzel, passed away this week at the age of 79.  I thought he was going to live to be 100, and I was very shocked to get the news. 


Charlie Kraihanzel, was in reality:  Charles S. Kraihanzel, PhD.. famous in Physics and a Professor at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  Folks in his area called him Chuck, I believe, but he would always be "Charlie" to me and to his dear wife of at least 55 years, Pauline.


Let me tell you a little bit about Charlie and me.. we go "way back"....


1940's:  I spent a lot of time at the Kraihanzel house at 100 Rockland Avenue, New Bedford, Massachusetts.  My mother would take me there probably at least once per week.  While Charlie and I would play on the floor, my mother and Charlie's mother, and their sisters and friends would gossip across the room, not realizing that Charlie and I were "little pitchers" that had "big ears."  After they had their fill of gab, the sisters would take turns at the upright piano, and everybody would have a great time singing.  As a side-effect, Charlie and I would be entertained.


Charlie's great mind was recognized at an early age.  He was able to "skip" two grades, and be at the same grade level as me, even though two years younger.


After the weekly singfests stopped,  I still visited Charlie's house every Saturday for some time.  Aunt Hattie would take Charlie and me shopping in New Bedford's bustling South End.  We got to ride on the trolley cars and I still remember looking out of the barred windows as we sped along South 2nd Street.  After our shopping adventure, we would suffer the indignity of a scrubbing bath by Aunt Hattie.  After that, it was bed time.. however, we could listen to Grand Old Opry on the radio until we fell asleep.  


1950's:  As I got older, I became a "street kid" and saw Charlie a little less, until he began to attend the First Baptist Church.  Aha! A great idea struck everybody.. "see if we can get Joe to go to church with Charlie and maybe he won't get in any more trouble."  Well, that worked.. kind of.. I did my "thing".. during the week and then reformed on Sunday.  Charlie's father would drive to our house on West Elm Street and then patiently (I doubt it) sit outside waiting for me to get ready for church.


Almost immediately, Charlie showed me the Church's little library.  Prior to that time, my only non-school reading was done in comic books.   As soon as I found the Wizard of Oz and all of the other Baum books, I gave up comic books completely.  I borrowed armfuls of books to read, as Charlie did as well.  We also read all of the Hardy Boys mysteries.


When the Kraihanzels moved to West Middle Street, Charlie and I discovered outside sports. 
Baseball:  Both Charlie and I had paper routes, but because mine was bigger, the manager put me on the all-star baseball team instead of Charlie.  That was a mistake.  I was lousy. Charlie was good. He found that out quickly and rectified his mistake.
Basketball:  The First Baptist Church team was renowned for losing games.  I don't think that I even scored one basket during my basketball career.  Charlie was very good and scored lots of baskets.  He enjoyed practicing in the mud at the Sherman house nearby.
Horseshoes:  Both Charlie and his father used the twisty form of horseshoe throw.. so, even though my underhanded flip style resulted in lots of ringers, their style allowed them to cover my ringers with theirs.


Charlie was good at indoor sports as well.
Monopoly:  I never... I mean never.. won at Monopoly against Charlie.
Chess:  At some point, I taught myself to play chess.  Charlie asked me to teach him to play.  That was it... I never won even one game against Charlie.
Checkers and Dominoes were games where Charlie also shone.


In New Bedford High School, Charlie and I had mostly different classes.   However, one class that we took together was Algebra 101.   Mr. Worden was the teacher, and a nicer guy you might never meet.  Charlie and I both got constant 100% scores on tests, so Mr. Worden (not knowing we were related) had us do a "tournament" with very tough questions.  We came out with the same score, which amazed him.


At the end of the semester, class members were asked to perform little entertainments... a while earlier, Charlie had worked out a mysterious looking "psychic" routine with me as his "shill".. we had used it at a family gathering beforehand and nobody could figure out how we did it.  We had the same outcome in the class.. and to confound Mr. Worden more, we had pretended that we made the routine up on the spot.  We had him believing in magic and he almost fainted when we confessed our relationship.


Of course.. in our teens,  eventually hormones kicked in and Charlie and I both decided that it was more fun to be with our girl friends than with each other... and our families know the rest of that story.   I am so happy to have been able to share over a decade of my young life with a man, a cousin, a co-conspirator, a God-fearing gentleman, a role-model, and a buddy....... Rest In Peace, Charlie.


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