In the Beginning...

It was June 13, 1940. Hitler was in power and raging through France. Paris has fallen and McDonalds opens its doors. In Lebanon Missouri Charles Raymond May was born to Fredrick William May and Virginia Bidewell May. Fred was the editor of the local newspaper. It was not soon after that that Fred would be called up to once again serve as a Colonel in the Army. He worked in the intelligence area and became an editor of the Pacific edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper. Fred stayed in the army till a stroke took him out of service to his country. During WWII Chuck’s mother took over the job of running the local paper. They lived in Lebanon till after the war when they moved to Japan.

Editors note: I drove through Lebanon with my father in 1977 and we stopped in to the general store. The owner was behind the counter and looked up and immediately recognized my father as “Charlie May” he then regaled me with a few tails of my father’s youth. It appears he burnt down a small field in town. Way to make an impression Pops!

Not Your Average Model Builder

Chuck loved to work with his hands. I remember my father building a few model ships and airplanes when I was a kid. I found out that he had had this obsession for quite a while. When he was sixteen years old, he was driving around Colorado Springs with his friend Gerald. They spotted a dilapidated Army Fairchild PT-19 Training plane from WWII. The owner said it was theirs if they could haul it off and so they did to Chuck’s parent’s garage where they worked to restore it. Chuck Joined the Navy at 17 and didn’t get it finished. In the 70’s Chuck picked up a broken-down Volvo and spent many hours restoring it. This one he did finish. He then wanted information about a 1952 MG-TD replica kit car. Instead of them sending him information, they just sent him the kit. They refused to pay to return it and since they mailed it to him without him agreeing to pay for it, he got it for free. He spent several years building it and putting a Porcha engine in it. He never got it licensed due to the legal dispute. Patrick took it out one night putting his license on it and got it totaled (I swear it was the other guy’s fault. The police even agreed though I did spend a few days in the hospital.) Chuck was done with cars his kids could wreck, so then he decided to go back to building airplanes. He built several large WWII models that were several feet long. He built a P-51 Mustang and a Navy Corsair. Then he went for the real thing. He got a kit for a RV-7A experimental airplane and went to town. He got help from his daughter in-law Nati riveting and even some help from his granddaughter Austina since she was able to fit into some small places. His friends from the Experimental Aircraft Association also lent a hand more than a time or two. Unfortunately, by the time it was able to fly, Chuck’s health made it so he could not fly it by himself but it did fly beautifully.

Japan

After WWII Fred was part of the American reconstruction of Japan. Though they were a fierce enemy during the war, they were a kind and nice people after the war. Tokyo was devastated and in ruins. People were in desperate need of food and shelter and the Americans were there to help. With Fred’s stature of a wartime Colonel he was afforded a nice home for him and his family along with servants. Emperor Akihito presented Fred with a sword which remains in the family today. Fred was given several swords during ceremonies while they lived in Japan. Chuck spent a lot of time with his “house boy” while he was in Japan. Chuck was noted for taking one of the family swords and riding around with it on his bike and cutting down bamboo trees.Chuck also illicitly acquired his mother’s cigarettes and traded them for bamboo wood to build forts with. Chuck lived there for several years till he moved back to the United States.

Charles Raymond May Sr.

June 13, 1940 - February 28, 2017

May Motel

From as young as I can remember Chuck and Penny opened their homes to visitors and people in need. While Chuck was working for Northwest Airlines in the early 70’s when two teenagers got stuck in Anchorage with no place to stay. Chuck brought them home from work and gave them a place to stay for over a week till they could arrange transportation home. Jerry Hoff, a friend of Chuck II, need a place to stay to finish off a year of High School and was welcomed into their home. Bruce Cross needed a change for a while and became another visitor. Chuck welcomed people from Sweden, New Zealand, Africa, Scotland, England and many other countries, often flying their national flag as they visited. Relatives from all over flocked to the May home. In Turnagain the neighbors actually put up a sign in front of their house at the end of a particularly busy summer that read “May Motel, closed for the rest of the season.”