Charles Meredith Moore, or Charley, or even Chas, died Saturday, July 29, in his home in Satank, just a month short of his 79th birthday.
His death was unique in that he planned it. Having spent several years in assisted living in Longmont because no dialysis center exists in the Roaring Fork Valley, Charley stopped the treatments and asked to be taken home, knowing he would soon die.
“I’m not getting any better on dialysis,” he said. “Enough is enough.”
Arriving seven days before his death, he was happy to be back in his old farmhouse, amid the books, paintings, photographs and memorabilia of his very active life. He had no doubt he had made the right decision.
As word of his return spread, his house began to fill with family, friends and neighbors, all in awe of his courageous life and now death, which he faced without fear.
Charley grew up in Denver, the fifth of seven kids, as was his father, an architect who collaborated with Buckminster Fuller to create the geodesic dome and his mother, a Canadian songstress and socializer.
Chas was smart, perceptive and voraciously curious, but always preferred the outdoors to a classroom. He graduated from Denver Country Day School and earned a bachelor’s in history from Lake Forest College. He spent some time in India with the Peace Corps and then tried law school at Denver University, until he realized he didn’t want to make a living off of other people’s problems.
During the Vietnam war, Chas was called before the draft board. He was granted conscientious objector status for ethical reasons — an extremely rare occurrence.
While coaching kids’ soccer in Denver, a wealthy family friend, recently widowed, asked Charley to help her clean out her husband’s “stuff.” Word spread about Charley’s willingness to help, and his kindness, trustworthiness and honesty. Unintentionally, he began creating his own vocation of caring for people, moving and storing furniture and fixing things. He never had another job.
Chas was rewarded handsomely for his kindness, bestowed with unending gifts of books, tools, guns and collectibles, including a classic ’55 Thunderbird from the Coors family and a house just one block away from his childhood home on Humboldt Street in Denver (he added a second floor on the garage for storage).
Charley gave away more than he got, which just kept the stuff coming… and he could remember the story behind every piece of furniture, vehicle, painting, etc.
Throughout his life, Chas climbed mountains and ran rivers all throughout the West. He was one of the very few to go left at Bedrock without dire consequences, and he volunteered his time and equipment to take CRMS students on numerous rafting trips.
In the early 1990s, Charley bought the Fender farm in Satank, as well as the Jensen house and Farmer’s welding shop. After some “horse trading” with George Stranahan, several acres were donated to create the Carbondale Community School and he began to move up from Denver, happy to be back near the land where he and his family spent summers camping on the Pabst family ranch.
Chas leaves behind two brothers, Mike and Hugh, one sister, Dorsey, three sisters-in-law, Ann, Jane and Clara, 12 nieces and nephews, 24 grand nieces and nephews, countless cousins and a full lifetime’s worth of stories and love.