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Meet
"The Big Man" Chuck
By his daughter Sharon
Most
of you know my dad for his big voice, his "Big
Man in the Middle" stage presence and his big
heart. He is often referred to as a regular
Southern Gentleman, a simple man and a Teddy Bear.
All of this is true other than being southern.
He was these things and so much more.
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Chuck
was born to Kenneth and Jeanne Worden in Minnesota,
July 7, 1956. He was raised in White Bear
Lake along with 3 siblings. He has an older
sister Irene and two younger siblings, a sister,
Joan (we all call her Jody) and a brother Ken. His
father worked hard through his life to support the
family. His mother made a home and worked
hard to raise the family. Some times were
hard, but together they made it through. Because
of this he learned to value family, to have patience,
to laugh often and love much. These values
carried throughout his life.
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Early
in Chuck's life his parents realized that he had a
love and an ear for music. While the pots and
pans and a wood spoon made him happy, they decided
to get him a drum set and give the "noise"
some reason and rhythm. As he grew, so did his
drum set! Along with this was his mothers love
of music and singing. Irene and him shared this
love and with their parents encouragement it became
a huge part of their lives.
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When
Chuck was 15, he and his best friend Steve Marco was 13,
they started their first band. He played the drums,
Steve played guitar and they shared the vocals. I
know there were other players as well but unfortunately
I do not know all the details. (Sorry to anyone that I don't
mention) They would take turns having practice in
their parents basements. They remained a band until
Chuck's early twenties. They remained friends for
his entire life; always there for each other no matter where
life had lead them.
Music
was not the only thing that Chuck had gotten from his parents.
His dad also gave him a love of sports. He was
involved in coaching a little league team with his dad and
played on a few teams of his own during his high school
years. Not only was he competitive, but he loved to
give others the competitive spirit.
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Shortly
after high school he met my mom, Janet. In June
of '77 they got married. In April of '78 they
had their first child, me, Sharon. He was a
very proud dad. Some of my earliest memories
were going to his band practices. As you can
imagine, it was loud, but from the time I was born
we had loud music on the stereo at home so I always
thought band practice was a blast. I am sure
that every neighbor we ever had didn't have any choice
but to listen to what he was listening to.
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Then
in 1980 he was again a proud dad with the birth of
his second daughter Leesa. By this time my dad
had become less involved with the band, but music
was never something that was set aside. Our
house was always Rockin'!
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Chuck
may not have been singing in a band, but he was ALWAYS singing
in the living room. During our elementary years his main
audience was a group of his daughters neighborhood friends.
Even though this may not have been his ideal stage,
he always had fun with it. When we would bring friends
home after school we always knew he was home; we could hear
the stereo from the bus stop! As you all know he loved
kids. He enjoyed sharing music, as well as his kindness,
with them.
His
love of kids and love of sports melded together.
During the summers he played softball for a number of leagues.
Many of these leagues played at the fields at the
Village Inn in White Bear Lake. It is now called The
Stadium. A couple of them were: Cheap Charlie's, Three
Diamonds and there were numerous others. This was
for his own competition. When I was old enough I got
involved in softball as well, he had a blast helping coach
my friends and me. During the winters he coached kids
hockey for the White Bear Hockey Association. He coached
all ages from the 4-5 year old Squirt team, teaching them
to stay on their feet in skates, to the older pre-varsity
teams. It didn't matter to him what the skill level
of each player was, as long as they were all having fun.
For 15 years of our lives we had two seasons, Softball and
Hockey. For one season when Leesa was about 12, he
coached football for some of her school friends. That
was a lot of fun for her to get to see her classmates at
the games.
During
the other parts of the year he also loved Football, Volleyball,
Car racing and many other sports. He always
told us he would have loved to race cars but with a family
that wasn't the safest hobby. Instead he made due
with watching the races and going to EVERY car show that
came to town.
In
1990 Chuck and Janet decided to part ways. He worked
extra hard at his job of 17 years at S&T Office Products
to make ends meet. Shortly after this he decided to
leave S&T to pursue other paths. He was back on
the path toward his musical dreams.
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He
learned of Peppercorns through friends and began bouncing
there. Then in 1995 he met Gregory Lee and Chain
Lightning began. For my sister and me it was
a realization. We both knew our dad loved music, but
until then, I don't think we realized how much he
wanted to share that with others. It wasn't
always easy to share him with everyone, but how cool
is it to have a dad in a Rock Band? Answer:
VERY COOL!
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In
1998 Chuck became a proud Grandpa with the birth of
Leesa's first son Randy. He became a Grandpa
again in 2002 when she had her second son, Michael.
As for my husband Marc and I, we haven't quite
gotten to that yet, but we know he will be watching
from above when we do.
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It
was also through the band that he met his Fiancée,
Kelly. They made a home together and she always
supported his music and his dreams. Kelly and
her kids, Adam, Chelsea, Brendan and Aaron gave him
another family. He passed away before the birth
of Chelsea's daughter Alison but he keeps watch over
all of us and all of his grandchildren will know him
through his songs and through our memories.
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Through
the years he has made way too many good friends to mention
but we are all proud that he used his voice and his heart
to reach out and help the kids of Make a Wish®.
He has given all of us something to believe in. He
has helped these kids achieve their dreams. Now we
all want to carry on that dream for him. He may not
be here physically but he is alive in the hearts of all
of us. His heart, his smile, his laugh and his voice
are missed, but he carries on in every person that he touched.
Let's
help keep his dreams alive.
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