Charlie Chadwick: A hard working man who loved his family

Charles (Charlie) Chadwick, born in Whanganui, was a hard working man all his life. Photo/ Supplied

Obituary:

He was a hard worker.

He would finish bouncing at any one of Whanganui's nightclubs at 4.30 in the morning, before starting a shift at Affco/Imlay freezing works just two hours later.

The hard work did not stop when his shift ended there.

Then, Charlie Chadwick would do what he loved most of all. He would go to his gym and train Zen Do Kai – a karate-based martial art.

Charlie's son, Charles "Chopper" Chadwick said his Dad made the effort for his family.

"I went to Wanganui Collegiate, he worked his ass off to get me there and I don't know how expensive it was," he said.

"He did that just because he wanted me to have a good education - that was a sacrifice he made."

Charles Egerton Ahere Chadwick (Charlie) was born in Whanganui on December 8, 1953. He was the Father of Charles, Jamie and Matthew Chadwick.

He was mad on fitness - at different stages of his life, Charlie played rugby, league and even participated in triathlons.

Charles (Charlie) Chadwick, born in Whanganui, was a hard working man all his life. Photo/ Supplied

Eventually, that led to him helping with the creation of the Wanganui Affco Imlay Marathon with his mate Tony Fantham.

The long hours spent training and at work, often meant long periods of time spent outside of the family home and that is something that stuck with Charles.

"He was always working, he was always doing something physical, whether that was karate or training towards a triathlon and I would always go to either my grandparents in Putiki or Castlecliff," he said.

"In hindsight, I didn't like the martial arts. I tried to do it, but I half-assed it and felt kind of forced to do it because the rest of the family were. I didn't like it because it kind of took my father away from me."

Moving to Wellington and having children gave Charles more of an appreciation for the way Charlie had lived his life and sparked a stronger connection between them.

Charles completed a master's in business administration at Victoria University, and to make ends meet, also found himself working at the freezing works.

"I think Dad must have influenced me there. I'd be up at half past four, go to work, finish work at five and then go to university from half past five until 9.30," he said.

"I've got four kids now and that's what formed our connection, as they started playing sport, that's when the connection grew."

At this time Charlie had moved to Christchurch - he worked at Silver Fern Farms until its closure, then worked with troubled youth and had recently started a job with Corrections.

"He'd gone from a Hurricanes supporter to a bloody Crusaders supporter - I hated that," Charles said.

"But he was always interested in his grand kids and how they were going in sport. They'd ring him up every Saturday after their game, he'd have a chat to them and counsel them."

Charlie played rugby for Wanganui Marist and later league for Aotea. He was nicknamed "The Body" which Charles said was because he was vain.

As they got older, Charles saw a more emotional side of his dad.

"Dad wouldn't express his feelings. I was always in the background when he'd be on the phone talking to the kids and it would be time to say goodbye - I would tell my kids to say 'I love you grand-dad' and they would say it.

"He didn't really know how to respond at first, he would say 'same' or 'ok' - but eventually we broke him down and he would actually say 'I love you too'. That was like a little win for me."

Charlie died on March 30, 2018 aged 64.

Charles had been warned that his father had heart issues.

"I'd already prepared myself mentally for it, we had a Skype call the Monday before he passed and he'd already planned his funeral out," Charles said.

"It was really joyful to hear those stories, some of them I hadn't heard before and it was just so moving to hear all these people talk of Dad in such a positive way."