07 Dec Charles “Chuck” Shiock
Charles “Chuck” J. Shiock, 67, died peacefully in his sleep in the early hours of December 3, 2023 in his home in Bismarck, ND surrounded by family after a three month battle with lung cancer.
Chuck was born in Punxsutawney, PA on March 31, 1956. He was the child of Carl (Hap) and Helen (Krempasky) Shiock.
Chuck married the love of his life Teresa (Terri) Smochek on May 14, 1988. Shortly after, they relocated to Margate, FL.
Chuck worked for many years for FAMCO (formerly Femco) in Punxsutawney, PA, Margate, FL and Bismarck, ND. Shortly after moving to Bismarck, ND in 2013, Chuck began working at Modern Machine Works, where he worked up until his passing. He enjoyed making and fixing things at work and around the house, affectionately called “Mr. Fix-It” by his wife and daughter.
Chuck was an avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan and would wear t-shirts supporting the team almost everywhere he went, always happy to strike up a conversation with anyone, and rarely missed watching or listening to the game. He was also a biker and loved to spend time with his wife and daughter going for rides on his Harley Davidson, a passion he instilled in his daughter.
Chuck is survived by his wife, Teresa ‘Terri’ Shiock, Bismarck ND, his daughter, Marissa (Noah) Weltin, Fargo, ND; his sisters, Cheryl Thames of Stow, Ohio, Helen (Mark) Benninger, Nancy Strader and brother Steve Shiock all of Punxsutawney, PA, his mother-in-law Shirley Swarmer and sister-in-law Kimberly Swarmer of Punxsutawney, PA and several nieces and nephews.
Chuck was preceded in death by his parents, his brother-in-laws Donald Thames, Jeff Strader and Kevin Smochek.
The family would like to extend thanks to Sanford Medical Center, Sanford Hospice and The Bismarck Cancer Center for taking care of Chuck over the last three and a half months.
Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Bismarck Funeral Home, Bismarck, ND. Services will take place 6:30 pm on Monday, December 11, 2023 at the Bismarck Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to The Bismarck Cancer Center, or the Ronald McDonald House of Bismarck
My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and loved ones. Chuck you were one of the good guys. RIP Buddy, God Bless…
Chuck will be missed by many! My deepest sympathy to all the family. I feel very honored to get to know him. He was a great man. I enjoyed working with him at Modern Machine. May he rest in peace!
Hello, my name is Logan McCleary (26). I am a friend and coworker of Chuck’s from Modern Machine Works. I have done side projects for Modern for many years prior to graduating high school. I didn’t start working physically at Modern until around 2016 or shortly after I graduated high school.
I remember briefly meeting Chuck around the shop and in the office at times, but didn’t get to know him right away as I had been going to college and the hours I worked after school did not overlap much with the morning shift.
As some people can attest to if you have ever worked in a skilled labored career field at a young age, or have started a new job, it can be hard to fit in and gain your co-workers respect. Especially from the more talented senior guys at work, as some have been working there as long as I have been alive. There is usually one if not more guys in any job that seem to enjoy watching the new guy struggle or like to keep their trade secrets of how to do certain things to themselves. So getting along with some can be tricky.
Not really knowing Chuck at first and not having worked alongside him the first few years I worked at Modern, my first impression of Chuck was he seemed a little unapproachable, at least that’s the vibe I initially had. He was always concentrated with his work and always had this bad ass biker old school vibe to him. He wasn’t my first pick to ask questions about work right away as I wasn’t sure what he thought about me. But it wasn’t much longer thereafter when I started to get to know him while we had worked on a few projects together. I had been completely wrong about my first impressions of Chuck, as he is a very friendly person and always willing to lend a hand and give tips on how to do things more effectively.
Chuck was always willing to go out of his way and say “good morning, how are you doing?”. He always made sure he would not leave you hanging if it was minutes away from shift change and was always willing to lend his tools for others to use.
Chuck was what I’d call an old school machinist. He didn’t have much of the newer, fancier gizmos and tools for machining like others, and frankly he didn’t need them, because he was so talented, smart and good at what he does. He didn’t bother with anything special. Some may say he was computer or electronic-a-phobic. As he always used a mechanical dial caliper and resorted to his pocket notebook for doing calculations and taking notes. I remember asking him one day “how come you use a dial caliper?”, as I figured they would not be reliable in a dirty shop environment as there are tiny gears that can get jammed with dirt. He looked at me and said with a straight face ”the batteries never run out”. I know that there is no way I could be as efficient as him, mainly as I grew up in the digital era.
One thing Chuck was noted for at the shop was his jokes. He was chalked full of them and always had perfect timely execution. Some of his jokes were questionably appropriate by today’s standards, but he would always get a good chuckle out of everyone and it really made the hours fly by at work.
Chuck was full of knowledge about almost everything and was always willing to share his knowledge with everyone. He may have been one of the older guys at work but he could still walk circles around you if he wanted to.
He would always shock me on some of the things he made and how he was always able to get them done so quickly with all the other things he had to do, like driving truck and doing deliveries to the mines.
Everyday Chuck made sure he would stop in the office and talk to Kris before he would leave and he would get an idea what’s coming up for the week. One of my favorite things Chuck would say just before leaving was…..quote ”well time to go home to hug the dog and pet the wife”. I remember the first time I heard him say it, it did not register right away as I have dyslexic sayings at times, but that was just Chuck being Chuck and livening up the shop.
I have learned alot from him and always got his opinion on things to get his point of view. He may have been a co-worker on paper but he was a very good friend and mentor to me and many other people around him too.
His presence will be greatly missed, but his shared stories, knowledge, tips and his timely jokes will be forever cherished and shared among everyone at the shop and for all who knew him.
RIP Chuck! You will be missed!