Charles Henry Niemeyer

Charles, “Chuck”, Niemeyer was born in Chicago, Illinois on June 27, 1934. He entered into Glory on January 8, 2024. In those 89 years, he did life well. He had an innate work ethic even as a young boy, having a paper route at the age of 13. He was admittedly not cut out for traditional school, enjoying more of the “shop” type classes, graduating from San Diego Vocational. After graduation, Chuck served in the US Army for 2 years. He was stationed for the majority of that time in Germany and worked as a tank mechanic.

In the summer of ’57, Chuck met his future wife Joan in Catechism class at the San Diego Christian Reformed Church. Just a few short months later, they married on November 1st, 1957. They had 3 children; Ron (wife Linda), Bob (wife Kristi), and much later came Jodi (husband Mark). The family grew to include 8 grandchildren (Jessica, Justin, Jaclyn, Adam, Craig, Randi, Amanda, and Leah), and 7 great-grandchildren (Gerrit, Gavin, Troy, Beau, Wesley, Isaac, and Colette). They were married for 62 years until Joan’s passing in 2019.

When Ron and Bob were young, Chuck and Joan enjoyed taking the boys to the desert and mountains to camp and ride motorcycles. Joan had to keep up on her Honda trail bike with the boys. As Ron and Bob got older, Chuck found his hobby of old cars. While Chuck worked hard in the Shop, at church, and at the apartment complex he owned and managed with Joan, he loved his hobby of Model A’s. He was a member of the San Diego Model A Club for over 45 years. He oversaw and was involved in the complete restoration of two Model A’s with his sons, Ron and Bob. In later years, he went on long road trips with the car club, Joan, and Jodi to Sacramento, Washington, and Breckenridge, Colorado. His mechanical aptitude was proven with these long ventures. The cars definitely fulfilled his love to tinker, even if sometimes it was on the side of the road.

Chuck’s lifelong career was at The Mahogany Shop from 1957-2007, where he remained until his retirement at the age of 74. But retirement doesn’t mean that Chuck didn’t stay busy. When asked about his retirement, Chuck said, “I’m so busy, I don’t know how I had time to work”. He loved projects, whether it be for the house, for the church, helping grandkids with school projects, or for others who needed some creative solutions. Doing good deeds was Chuck’s love language.

Chuck was dedicated to attending church twice on Sunday at the San Diego Christian Reformed Church. He was a charter member, along with his brother and parents when the congregation started in 1943. He had a close knit group of couples friends that would go to lunch after the morning service. He and Joan raised their kids in the church which gave them a firm foundation on which to live their lives, with Christ at the center.

Everyone knows that Chuck had a firm handshake. We will miss his kind smile and certain phrases that were uniquely Chuck, like “I’ll be jiggered”, or “that’s pretty good M’gee”. In his last 1 ½ years, he lived in a retirement community. He did more witnessing for Jesus during that time than he did in his earlier life. He played hymns on his German harmonica, to anyone willing to listen. He would leave the Today devotional in the library, and lent Pastor Jeremiah’s books to the friends he made there. Chuck knew where he was going, and wanted others to find and have that peace too. As Psalm 116:15 says, “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants”. Thank you Chuck for your faithful service, your friendship, and your love shown to friends and family. You leave a legacy among many.