Charles Cecil Peck Sr.

Charles Cecil Peck was a storyteller. He began collecting his stories when he was born into a farming family on February 14, 1930. From driving a tractor before he could reach the pedals to the mischief, he and his brother Paul would find to flying bank robbers, his childhood was happy, fertile ground for the early stories. While a short time at Oklahoma State provided a few tales, it was joining the Navy in 1951 that brought more color. From ports to poker games, his time in the Navy was rich for stories of exotic places and friendships that would last a lifetime.

Marriage on September 10, 1952, to Patsy in San Francisco started a 70-year journey together. Discharged in 1952, he went back to farming in Hobart with his family. The birth of Frank and then Chuck 11 months later provided plenty of reason for laughter, pride and tall tales. It also required a second job at Public Service Company. Reading meters at PSO started a 30+ year journey that lead him and his family from Hobart to Sand Springs, where Greg was added to the storyline, to McAlester and back to Sand Springs. Those moves and a growing family provided stories of peeing little league outfielders, wrestling matches, Sunday School, landscaping, and work stories about navigating customers, bosses and fellow employees. After he and Patsy retired, they moved to Norman. In every town he lived, he would cruise the neighborhood. He never really met a stranger, he found new friendships, from the Carnahan’s to the Harris’s, that were always meaningful to him. He made sure everyone he met knew he was willing to help or share a story that would lift you up or simply make you laugh.

A stroke in 2012 limited his ability to wander but not his affection for others. As friends and family came to visit, they were greeted with huge smiles, a hug, and a genuine sense of his thrill that you were there. He found energy from others. Even as his time grew short, he told stories of the past and offered wisdom for the present

The final chapter of his story may have ended on September 11, 2022 but not his stories. He was a good man who will be missed. Those stories of his will live on through his children, grandchildren - Mary Jane, Geoff, Clayton and Carter - and great grandchildren - Oliver and Eliza.