Suburban Pearl Harbor survivor dies at 92
Charlie May was a man of many talents.
He was notorious for giving the best hugs, recalls his daughter, Sara Olofson. He was able to pick out the best melons from the grocery store - a running joke in the May family. He was the ultimate host who had a knack for making people feel welcome.
He was a strong and gentle father, a loving husband, a fast friend.
And as one of the few remaining survivors of the Pearl Harbor attack, May was a hero.
At 92 years old, May died Wednesday at the GreenFields of Geneva retirement community.
"He was always easy with a smile and a telltale laugh that everybody would recognize," Olofson said. "You'd walk in the door, and you were his instant friend."
In the last few years of his life, May struggled with dementia, Olofson said, but not before he was able to recall his experience at Pearl Harbor to his entire family.
May grew up in a small town in Missouri and joined the U.S. Navy when he was 17. He was stationed aboard the USS Phoenix when Japanese fighter planes attacked the U.S. Naval Base on Dec. 7, 1941. Thousands were killed and injured, and several ships sunk. But May survived.
Over the years, he revealed bits and pieces of the story to Olofson, but it wasn't until 2001, after May saw the movie "Pearl Harbor" in the theater with his family, that he discussed the full experience with his loved ones.
"There were a lot of questions, and we held our breaths for a while. He was very, very talented at weaving the story and revealing it all," Olofson said. "He told the whole story, and the details he recalled were just incredible."
May's experience in the Navy was just a small portion of his long and incredible life, Olofson said.
It only took eight dates for May to realize that his wife, Frances, was the love of his life. The couple raised three girls, traveled extensively and celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary in December.
"He's the strong, gentle type, and my mother is bubbly and more social. The two of them together just made a perfect couple," she said. "Even as I was younger, my elementary school friends wished they had my mom and dad."
After moving to Elgin in 1957, May started a lifelong career in the insurance industry and eventually became a district manager for State Farm Insurance. Over the years, he and Frances also lived in Germany, Wisconsin and Huntley.
When he retired in 1985, he and Frances moved to Cambridge, Wisconsin, where they built a five-bedroom house the entire family could visit and enjoy, Olofson said. May created a pond out back so his kids and grandkids could go ice skating in the winter and could fish and swim in the summer.
"He made a little sanctuary for our families, and that's where all our fondest memories reside now," Olofson said. "It was just a haven for our family created by my parents."
She added, "That's really what he passed on to all of us - how important family is to us."
May is survived by his wife, three daughters, eight grandchildren, five great-grandchildren, a brother-in-law, three brothers and many nieces and nephews.
A celebration of May's life will be held Feb. 20 at Moss-Norris Funeral Home, 100 S. Third St. in St. Charles, with a visitation from 1-3 p.m. and a memorial service at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers, May's family is asking for memorial contributions in his name at The GreenFields Foundation or the Alzheimer's Association.