Deacon Charles "Scoop"'s Obituary
Reverend Deacon Charles “Scoop” Kiesel of Fort Myers Beach, Florida left us to join Our Lord surrounded by his loving family on December 25, 2013. He was 93 years of age. The son of Charles and Lillian Kiesel. He was born in New York State and moved to Fort Myers Beach in the 1950s. He, his brothers, and extended family members became pioneers in the fledgling shrimp business at Fort Myers Beach. By the end of his career, he had shrimp and associated business on Fort Myers Beach, Florida, Biloxie, MS, and Aransas Pass, TX. Upon retiring from the water, he worked for the state of Florida in the HRS department. Among his duties were Lee County detention center; group homes in Labelle, Fl, and Lee County. He did this for over 12 years. Among his great loves in his life were his family, his faith, the church and Fort Myers Beach. In pursuit of his faith in the Catholic religion, he had to leave the beach and drive to Fort Myers to attend St. Francis Xavier Church. Later there were mission churches set up at Fort Myers Beach, among them Mass was held at many places, even at night clubs located across from the shrimp fleets. He was a founding member of the Church of the Ascension. He was ordained as a Reverend Deacon in 1987 and served for 28 years. Recently he said, that he had never thought of growing old as he had no aches and pains. His thoughts on heaven were, “a perfect place, there were no sad thoughts or feelings.” He was an active participant of many church activities, including bingo, and doing many readings. He taught religion classes up until three months ago, including one year at Bishop Verot Catholic High School. During World War II, Scoop proudly served in the United States Coast Guard. At that time Long Island, and the Manhattan area were under a threat of German submarines. Scoop and several family members served on a destroyer escort to patrol these waters to keep the homeland safe. As a young man on Long Island, he loved to ride horses and during High School he was a member National Honor Society, Jr., and Sr. class president, a Captain of the wrestling team and participated in cross country running, but his favorite position was Chief of Police at Babylon High School. All of his life he loved to read. That is where the nickname “Scoop” originated from the character Scoop Elery. Scoop said recently the times in his life that he was most proud of was “his repetition on Fort Myers Beach.” He was active in many events at Fort Myers Beach, among them, speaking to many organizations, participating in the Annual Beach Shrimp Festival, and one of the organizers of the original Blessing of the shrimp Fleet. As beach Fire Commissioner, he was elected for two terms, the third term he forgot to register, thus becoming the only elected public official in Lee County as a write-in candidate. He was proud of his membership in the Kiwanis Club, Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus, American Legion, Ecumenical Council of Fort Myers Beach, Saint Vincent DePaul, SAC Committee at Fort Myers Beach Elementary School, President of the booster club at Bishop Verot High School, President of the PTA at St. Francis Xavier School, and last but not least, a member of the Fort Myers Beach Yacht Club. Scoop first meet his beloved wife Lenora, while skating at a roller rink, they dated for five years, and were married for 63 years. Also leaving behind to cherish his memory are his three children, Lenora Kiesel Smith (Tom) Of New Jersey, Charles “Scoop” Kiesel Jr. (Lisa) of Fort Myers, Robert Kiesel (Colette) of Fort Myers. Grand children, Travis and Zachery Smith of New Jersey, Charity Smith of Fort Myers Beach, Fl; Erin Durfey of Fort Myers, Robert Kiesel Jr., and Collette Kiesel of Fort Myers, Fl. Three great grandchildren whom have brought an ordinate amount of joy into his life. Sister, Lillian Wang, and sister-in laws Joan Kiesel, Celie Kiesel, Mike Evans, and Jean Barning. Brother-in-law Larry Barning (Jean) and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.Scoop is now in the presence of his beloved brothers, Hilbert Kiesel, Donald Kiesel, George Kiesel, and Brother-in-Law Ted Wang. The Pall Bearers chosen are his grandsons, Travis and Zachary Smith, good friend, Kim Hart, longtime friend, Marty Maier, and nephews George and Douglas Kiesel.The arrangements are being made by Fort Myers Memorial Gardens Funeral Home and Cemetery. Visitation will be Sunday the 29th of December, from 3-6pm. Funeral mass will be conducted at Church of the Ascension, Fort Myers Beach at 11a.m. the 30th day of December. Reception to follow at Church of the Ascension Parish Hall, Fort Myers Beach, Fl.The family deeply appreciates the compassionate care given to Scoop by Hope Hospice. If anyone would choose to do so, the family would like donations to be made to Hope Hospice 9470, Heath Park Circle, Fort Myers, FL 33908 and/or Church of the Ascension, Fort Myers Beach, Florida.A fitting epitaph for our dad would be, “A Parable to Immortality” by Henery VanDyke. “I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spread her white sail to the morning breeze and starts the oceans blue. She is an object of beauty and strength and I stand and watch until at last she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says, “There she goes!” Gone where? Gone from my sight – that is all. She is just large in the mast and spar as she was when she left my side and just as able to bear her load of living freight to destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There she goes!” There are other voices ready to take up the glad shout, “Here she comes!””
What’s your fondest memory of Deacon?
What’s a lesson you learned from Deacon?
Share a story where Deacon's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with Deacon you’ll never forget.
How did Deacon make you smile?