Obituary of Charles E. Penoyer

Charlie left us on July 24, 2024, surrounded by his loving family after an extended illness. He was born in Brewerton, NY, and, as a teenager, when his family moved to Colchester, VT, he met the love of his life, Jean Magoon. Throughout his life, Charlie enjoyed and mastered many hobbies: leatherworking, photography, welding, blacksmithing, woodworking, motorcycle riding, camping, and weaving-loom repair, among others. He was someone who could make or fix just about anything. After serving in the Navy during the last part of the Korean War, he attended RIT (Rochester Institute of Technology) for photography and started a family in Rochester, NY. A chance encounter with a backhoe operator changed his career path to one in construction with Eastman Kodak. After retirement, Charlie kept in touch with Kodak friends and enjoyed motorcycle breakfast rides with buddies Wendell, Joe, Ed, and sometimes son Curt, in the hills of New York’s Southern Tier. Weekends, you could find him and his wife of 67 years, Jean, at their camp trailer, sitting contentedly around a campfire. Besides wife Jean, Charlie is survived by son Curt and Curt’s wife, Cherie, and daughter Donna and her husband, Warren.