ONEONTA - Charles (Charlie, Pop, Poppa T) Frederick Thuma Sr., 102, of Oneonta, passed away on Feb. 3, 2025.

He was born on Dec. 22, 1922, to Bessie Bild Thuma and A. Charles Thuma in Sayville.

He was pre-deceased by his wife of 41 years, Frances, and son David Thuma.

He is survived by sons, Charles Jr. (Susan), and Albert Thuma (Kristen); daughter-in-law Mary Thuma; grandchildren, Elizabeth Tobe, Melissa Kreider, Robert, JP, Sam and Nick Thuma. He is also survived by five great-grandchildren, Landon, Mason and Charlotte Tobe, and Bryce and Brodie Kreider.

He grew up in Sayville and loved sailing on the Great South Bay. He was a member of the Wet Pants Association, a sailboat racing club, the Sayville Volunteer Fire Department for seven years, the Yaphank Volunteer Fire Department for five years, was on the Board of Directors of the Middle Island Library for three years and volunteered at M.I. Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown for five years. He was part of the 1939 All Suffolk County High School Band that played at the World's Fair in Flushing, playing the E flat baritone saxophone. He was a lifetime member of: American Legion Post 651, Sayville, VFW Post 6194, Yaphank, the Sampson WWII Navy Veterans and the National Association of Retired Federal Employees Chapter 1284.

After graduating high school in 1940, he worked for New York Life Insurance Company and then Western Electric Company. In Nov. 1942, he joined the U.S. Navy. Designated as a radioman he was first assigned to PC 1230 escorting convoys in the Gulf of Mexico. Then in early 1944, he was assigned to USS Agawam (AOG-6) delivering aviation gasoline throughout the Pacific. He ended WWII in Nagasaki, Japan, in Dec. 1945. He was discharged in Jan. 1946 at Lido Beach. He earned the following medals from the war: American Campaign Medal, Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, WWII Victory Medal, Philippine Liberation Medal, and Good Conduct Medal.

After WWII he went back to work at Western Electric Company in New York City. In 1948, he was hired as an electronics technician with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) at their transmitter/beacon station in West Sayville, serving there for 31 years. In 1954, he married Frances Szuster and they built a home in 1955 in Middle Island. After retirement from the FAA in 1979 he worked across the street from his house at the Middle Island Country Club, maintaining the grounds for 14 years. He moved to Doylestown, Pennsylvania with his wife in 1993. Upon her passing in 1995, he moved to Cooperstown to live closer to his son, David and daughter-in-law, Mary, who lived in Cooperstown. He traveled extensively in the United States, including Alaska, and to Europe until 2012 when he was one of the first residents to move into the Heritage at the Plains in Oneonta, an assisted living community, where he was the "unofficial mayor". In late 2021, just before his 99th birthday he had to move to the A.O. Fox Nursing Home in Oneonta where he resided and imparted many stories of his life until his death. He recently imparted his experiences of WWII to his grandsons, Nick and Sam, which will be published as part of the Veterans Heritage Project and memorialized in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress.

Many thanks to the dedicated staff at A.O. Fox Nursing Home for making his final years more enjoyable and for the comfort and care he received in his final days.

Charles will be laid to rest in the Thuma family plot in the Bohemia Union Cemetery in Bohemia.

To send online condolences please visit www.ottmanfuneralhome.com

Arrangements are under the care of the Ottman Funeral Home, Cherry Valley.