MILLINOCKET – Charles “Charlie” Alfred Reitze, Sr., started telling his favorite stories on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023, to a new – or maybe an old familiar – audience.

Charlie was born April 8, 1948, in Portland, the second son of Raymond Eli (Sr.) and Mary Julia (Geyer) Reitze.

After serving in the U.S. Army, including a year in Viet Nam during the Tet Offensive, he worked in construction for most of his life. After he stopped installing siding, he built beautiful furniture, often using live edge lumber and epoxy. He also drove 18-wheelers for a while. He loved to fish, hike in all seasons, snowshoe, and maintain a section of the Appalachian Trail. After learning that his father’s old camp in Alder Stream Township was for sale, he evicted the mice and rebuilt it, creating a new legacy for his children and grandchildren. He loved writing an outdoor survival column for the Northwoods Sporting Journal and was pleased when his two books were published by Leicester Bay Books: “Grampa Charlie’s Side-splittin’ Fireside Stories: for bedtime or any other time at all!” and “Bound By a Common Thread”

Most of all, he enjoyed his church service and sharing his testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Just days before he died, he proposed visiting local members with his leaders and asked his wife to check on a family he used to visit often.

He is survived by his wife Judyth (Barton) Reitze; his five children, Shane, Nicole (Nicoletta Montefusco); Jared and wife Barbara (two sons); Charles Jr. (Chip Eastman) and wife Christy (two sons); and Shannon and husband Travis Smith (one daughter and four sons); their mother (his former wife) Marie Eastman; former wife, Maxine Stanley; siblings Raymond and wife Nancy, Kathleen and husband Brian Lewia, Mary and husband Mark Osmond, Susan Shaw, and Judith and husband John Peverada; nieces, nephews; and many friends, including his Maine Home Care and Beacon Hospice caregivers.

He will be remembered Saturday, Dec. 9, from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. with service starting at 1 p.m. held under the direction of Lincoln Branch President Alex Waite at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 144 Penobscot Valley Ave., Lincoln.

He will be given military honors at the chapel of the Maine Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 163 Mt. Vernon Rd., Augusta, on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 1 p.m. Arrangements are by Lamson Funeral Home, Millinocket. Messages of condolence may be expressed at Charlie’s Book of Memories at http://www.lamsonfh.com.