I got a call from Charlie's wife, Jen, an hour ago. She said he had a heart attack. I believe he died Tuesday, although I wasn't listening that well. My understanding is that his funeral service will be Saturday.

I had a feeling something was wrong. He hadn't answered recent emails, and he never failed to give me his opinion.....and quickly.

He was planning on working his feeders, getting ready for the season.

For those of you that felt his stinger on occasion, don't worry, we all did. He was opinionated, and generally he disagreed with yours, but he was a good-hearted friend. He would chew on you at every opportunity, then turn around a do something so gracious that you couldn't believe it was him.

Honest to a fault. Helpful if he felt you needed it. He loved his family and bragged on his kids at every opportunity. I felt I knew them, through his stories and updates.

I admired his respect for nature and the game that shared his ranches. He believed everything deserved a little space, even his hogs.

I'm glad I met Charlie, and wish we had spent more time together. He could be rougher than a cob, but had a wealth of knowledge that he was glad to share, whether you wanted it or not.

I will not forget his kindness in allowing me to hunt on his place, and be a part of his world.

How fragile life can be ..I m sorry to hear this ..I always liked Charlie and respected his opinions.
My condolences to his friends and family ..RIP sir .

Just a brief update. Charlie was cremated in Longview, Texas. There will be a visitation in De Kalb, Texas on Saturday at the Bates Family Funeral Home. No service per se. Charlie was 69.

His friend Randy says Charlie had both a heart attack and stroke. An ambulance took him to a hospital in Tyler. Charlie's family gathered, and the doctors told them, based on tests and brain scans, he would not regain consciousness. The decision was made a little later to remove him from life supports.

I feel Gato died about how he would have liked. He was at his computer (probably writing me an email indicating how wrong I was on some subject). Like most of us, he wouldn't have wanted to have lingered, or have lost his mental faculties. I think he lived life large, and deserved to just flip the switch at the end.

His obituary describes him as a self-employed rancher. Hell, he was more than that. To those that knew him, he was a character, one of a few you will meet in your life that you'll never forget.

He well be missed here I enjoyed reading his stuff.

Rest In Peace Gato

Condolences to the family


He was truly a person on ar I wanted to meet and I learned a lot just from his ar posts.

He will be missed for sure.

Mike

Prayers and condolences to his family and friends.............

Wow that is a bolt from the blue (as most massive heart attacks are). So sad to read this. Gatogordo was certainly one of a kind. Always enjoyed trading opinions with him and he always had my respect. And I too would have enjoyed sharing a campfire with him.

Condolences to his family and friends. He will most certainly be missed by all who knew him.

I will miss Mr Tuppen, for sure :-(

That’s a shame, but it probably was his preferred way to go... quick and no lingering in pain.

I didn’t have much interaction with the guy, but his being a character sure came through.

Rest In Peace sir.

My condolences to his family and friends.OB

RIP, CAT!

ya!

GWB

RIP, Gato.

He and I had different tastes in BBQ, but I went and had a brisket sandwich in his honor.

Rest in peace Charlie;this came as quite a shock;I'm just glad for you that it was quick. Our thoughts + prayers go out to his family.See you on the other side,Randy

Years ago after Walterhog banned CAT, from the Crater, I asked him if he wanted me to speak to DRG on his behalf. He cussed me up one side and down the other for even suggesting such a thing, and told me under no circumstances should I even dare!

I think it would be interesting if Saeed or DRG could/would tell whether his posting privileges in the Crater were ever restored. I do not recall him ever posting there after his banishment.

ya!


GWB

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
Years ago after Walterhog banned CAT, from the Crater, I asked him if he wanted me to speak to DRG on his behalf. He cussed me up one side and down the other for even suggesting such a thing, and told me under no circumstances should I even dare!

I think it would be interesting if Saeed or DRG could/would tell whether his posting privileges in the Crater were ever restored. I do not recall him ever posting there after his banishment.

ya!


GWB

He did post in 2017/2018 in the crater in defense of Edmond.

I will miss Gato - I enjoyed his posts and wisdom.

Mike

Ken, I am in shock. We were messaging just a few days ago. So sorry for Charlie's family and close friends, but glad he did not linger and suffer.
Geez. I may just have to choke down a Budweiser in his honor.

http://www.texarkanagazette.co...harles-tuppen/71156/

Charlie and I disagreed on many things, but!
He invited my Grandson and I to hunt a few years ago. I shot a nice 9 point within 20 minutes of sitting down. My Grandson fired soon after that. Charlie came bounding across the pasture gripping about shooting a small deer. We went over to it and he said,"Well, it may be OK". His Son said it was the largest deer that he had seen on their property. We loaded it on his 4 wheeler and went to check on my Grandson. Josh pointed 250 yards away to where he said he shot his deer. Charlie said"You can't shoot your popgun that far and hope you didn't wound it". Josh has had a 30BR since he was very young and will use nothing else for white tail or hogs.It was an 8 point and a very nice deer. We went over and it was dead from a neck shot.
After the work we went to Charlie's house and his wife fixed the best chicken fried venison that I have ever tasted. Josh must have eaten 3lbs of meat.
Charlie's Son was a very nice young man as was his Wife and Daughters.
We continued our relationship and bitched at each other several times over the years.
Charlie will be missed. I think his kids will hold the family together, but his wife is tough, though kinda quiet.

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:

quote:

Originally posted by Geedubya:
Years ago after Walterhog banned CAT, from the Crater, I asked him if he wanted me to speak to DRG on his behalf. He cussed me up one side and down the other for even suggesting such a thing, and told me under no circumstances should I even dare!

I think it would be interesting if Saeed or DRG could/would tell whether his posting privileges in the Crater were ever restored. I do not recall him ever posting there after his banishment.

ya!


GWB

He did post in 2017/2018 in the crater in defense of Edmond

I will miss Gato - I enjoyed his posts and wisdom.

Mike

Some people can’t help but focus on a man’s mistakes.

Just kidding. Charlie was an interesting character and this place will be poorer without him.

Seems he was more than just a self-employed rancher. Seems he was always driving hell and gone to pick up boats, canoes, etc. Maybe that was just an excuse for him to check out all those bbq joints.

Viya con Dios Gato

I never met Charlie in person...but I did speak with him a few times as he seemed to travel in my neck of the woods a lot (crossroad of I-35 and US 82) and I gave him recommendations of barbeque cafe's and steak places.

Since he drove past one of my businesses often...I always expected he would drop in one day.

He gave me some good advice over the years as well.

May God rest Charlie's soul and comfort his family.

Let this be a reminder that we don't pick when we check out and that each day is a blessing...live life to the fullest.

Thanks for letting us know Kensco.

Rest in peace friend.

I am sorry to hear this; he and I went around a couple of times, but i am glad that we eventually patched things up through our mutual love of cooking and good food.

RIP, Charlie...

Ron

RIP Gato. Kensco, thank you for posting the sad news as well as for your kind tribute. I appreciated his no-nonsense opinions on most everything. He invited me to join him and his son on a bird hunt in Argentina and I wish now that I had taken him up on it.

Similar story to butchlambert's.

I had hunted Gato's place for maybe a year. I had another hunt planned when my son told me he was going to take a Friday off and wondered what I was doing that weekend. He's not a hunter, and I explained where I was headed, and asked if he wanted to trail along. He said he was game.

With some trepidation I sent Charlie an email asking if he would mind if my son hung-out with me at his ranch. His emailed response was a high volume tirade about guests inviting friends and family to his place. I sent him a reply apologizing for any offense. I had no intention of inviting anyone without his permission, and was not asking permission for my son to hunt, just camp-out with me. Charlie's response was high volume indicating that if I knew how to read, I would have seen (somewhere in the last sentence of his email) that he had agreed to let my son accompany me.....and he meant just that.

I just shook my head, and told my son to get ready to load-up for an eventful weekend.

When we arrived at the ranch, Charlie was just as kind and gracious as I knew he could be. Charlie asked if my son would like to borrow one of his rifles and hunt. I declined the offer. A few hours later Charlie asked me what my problem was, and that he would be glad to have my son use one of his rifles on a hog. I thanked him, and said that if the opportunity came up I would hand my gun to him and allow him to take the shot. That seemed to satisfy Charlie.

As luck would have it, the next morning we hunted to the northwest corner; a hell of a trek. We were resting by the ground blind when we spotted a black hog down a shooting lane about 250 yards away. We moved briskly down the side of the clearing and noticed we now had a white hog in the opening as well. I handed my son my 300 WSM. As we tried to get into a shooting position both hogs moved back into the trees. We made a slow 50 yard stalk looking for movement. Nothing. I decide to not flush them.....and we waited.

In a few minutes a gray hog stepped out about 75 yards in front of us and I leaned forward and told my son to take him. Another hog stepped into the opening just as the gun went off. The recoil took my son off target and hogs were running through the trees. My son thought he had missed, but I had watched the gray hog thrashing in the tall grass. We walked over to it, and it was toast.

I told him to stay about 25 yards off to my right, keep me in sight, and let's get on the trail of the hogs that had moved into the woods.

We caught them fairly quickly. They were trotting through the trees. My son missed one shot. We caught them again and he decked the big white sow on the next shot.

We were too deep in the woods to recover the white hog, but we worked our way out to the road, met Charlie and Randy, and went back to the northwest corner to recover the gray hog. Charlie was bitching the whole way, but I thought he had a satisfied look on his face as he growled. (I suspect Charlie liked seeing people be successful.)

He was like a big kid driving through those mud holes, chewing on me the whole time about how the northwest corner was going to be off-limits. I don't think either Randy or I took him seriously.

I appreciate that Charlie gave my son and I a chance to hunt together. My son enjoyed the adventure and maybe a spark was lit.

Charlie had an affect on people more than he realized. I hope Charlie's children will hear that voice of his in their heads as they re-group and move forward.

quote:

Charlie had an affect on people more than he realized. I hope Charlie's children will hear that voice of his in their heads as they re-group and move forward.
 
Posts: 6755 | Location: Texas | Registered: 10 May 2002

This right here, Ken. This right here.

I have said this elsewhere but he was a damn fine man and had a huge soft spot for kids and dogs. Damn it all. Like others I had been talking with him here and by email recently, was expecting to see him soon. The damn rain had kept me away.

Sorry to hear that

He will be missed. Bill,I am impressed with your kind heart to drink a bottle of Budweiser in his rememberence in lieu of eating a good BBQ sandwich.You too are truly a saint.

I got back from Gato's memorial service in De Kalb about an hour ago. Nice service. About 100 friends and family. Not a religious service, just a chance for people, and most importantly Gato's kids to talk about their dad.

Adam, his son, talked about Gato's life, growing up and into adulthood. Some of his early adventures drew chuckles from the room. (When Charlie was small in Shreveport he used to ride a bus by himself to the public library. His thirst for knowledge started a long time ago.)

Adam's a full-grown man, working on his Masters at the Colorado School of Mines. He's going to do some fine things in life.

Ann shared that people didn't know how sentimental Gato was. After his death they opened his wallet and he had saved the little tags from Christmas of Birthday presents from some time ago. They were the little tags that said, "FROM:________ and TO:__________". They meant something to Gato so he carried them everywhere he went. (It reminded me that I still carry my daughter's business card in my wallet. She died sixteen years ago.) Some things you can't turn loose of.

Ashley, Gato's youngest started by saying she was the black sheep of the family. (That drew some laughs.) She's not. She may be most like Gato, headstrong and unconventional. Gato, I believe, considered her a work in progress, kinda like da Vinci must have felt about the almost completed Mona Lisa. She's a beauty and may turn out to be the strongest of the bunch.

I think Jen and her kids are going to do fine. Jen's quiet, and strong, I believe a force to be reckoned with if anyone decides to cross her. The family just needs time to catch their breath. It's too soon, and been too hard.

Whoever decided to include Cat's bib overalls and John Deere ball cap in the display at the front of the room caught the essence of the man. If anyone ever fit the "don't let the old clothes fool you" saying, it was he. They also had his favorite over & under cracked open by the photos of good times, and good hunts past. Everyone in the photos with Charlie had a smile from ear to ear. His family loved being with him. They said he was a great husband and father. Who could ask for anything more.

I think if Gato could have negotiated a few more years from the man upstairs, it wouldn't have been for a few more good hunts. I think it would have been to see some grand-kids running around the house. He mentioned that to me the last time we rode around his ranch. He seemed to be implying that his kids weren't cooperating. Ever the micro-manager. I'll bet there was never a train that Gato just rode. He probably either drove them, or got the hell off.

Ken, thank you for attending his service, and for sharing what you saw.
In Charlie's last PM to me, he mentioned that Adam had just hunted the bear season opener in Colorado.

Kenso

Thanks for attending Gato’s service.

We lost a good guy.

Mike

Thanks Ken. I sold Charlie a Belgium Hi Power a year ago with the caveat that I could buy it back within a years time if I wanted for the same price. I met Jen + Ashley in Georgetown to do the transfer + when that (I say little girl) got her hands on it I knew I would never see it again.Ken,thanks again for sharing that.

RIP Gato - bought a nice rifle from him and enjoyed reading his stuff.
Peace

quote:

Originally posted by p dog shooter:
He well be missed here I enjoyed reading his stuff.

As did I, RIP.

Prayers for the family and may he RIP. Kurt

I am saddened to hear of his passing.

The world is more grey today.
I write these words with tears flowing,.
We never met in person but we had some exchanges on mail and phone, I had the privilege and the pleasure to be asked if I could take care of his loved ones in Paris minus Adam who could not accompany his mother and his sisters.
We all had a great time.
His friendship helped me go through my divorce some time later.
We had a last exchange by mail a few months go.
He was clearly a real man, husband, father and American.
We'll meet in the other world.
Rest in peace, Charlie.

Damn, I only just saw this post. I too crossed GG a few times! Even had him on "ignore", but always read his posts on topics I was interested in. Didn't know his name until now. RIP Gatogordo!

Come, my friends,
'T is not too late to seek a newer world.
Push off, and sitting well in order smite
The sounding furrows; for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die.
It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:
It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,
And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.
Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Peter

It is truly an admission into Valhalla when even your adversaries grant you passage. See you at Odin's hall. Charlie, (maybe there will be Q)[+ hopefully something better than bud to drink]