Goodbye my friend, it is hard to die.

N

nfty9er

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Goodbye to you my trusted friend
We have known each other since I don't know when.
Goodby Charlie, It's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky.
We had joy, we had fun, we had season in the sun.

A tribute to Charlie O'brien, who unfortunately passed away on Tuesday June 14. Charlie was a well known pool players and story teller on the West Coast for many years. Those who knew him always commented on what a great stroke he had, and he did. He had a stroke a couple of years ago that I reported on and he lost the ability to play pool and was paralyzed on his left side. He was carrying on with his life with his lovely wife Randy and his 2 sons who were paramedics that he was proud of and his daughter going to school in Boston conicidentally where Charlie was originally from. He opened a pool room a few years ago before the strokie called Charlie O's In Scotts Valley, Ca. but lost it due to his partners use of drugs. Pool was always his life and biggest hobby although he worked in several professions
Charlie will be missed, I know of no one that ever had a bad thing to say about my friend. God bless him in his new life and God bless his family and it is a sad Father's day indeed.

Dick Cady
Fast Eddy's Billiards
Capitola, Ca.
P.S. Of course we will be planning a memorial tournament for him and tonight a moment of silence prior to our tournament.
My family and I are pretty shocked and broke up about this. Thanks to all for your blessings for him.
 
Very nice post about your friend.
My condolences to you, his family, and all of his friends on the West Coast
 
Charlie O'brien

Dick, I can't begin to tell you how shocked I am to hear of this. The last time I was in town, you told me that Charlie had just left the pool room. He ended up comming back when he heard I was there. I'm glad he did because we spent at least a couple hours of quality time talking about all sorts of stuff. At the time, he was in great spirits.

I told Charlie that I found out about his stroke through nfty9er's post, here on AZ a couple of years ago. He had no idea the word got out on this forum. Charlie said that the stroke left him totally incapacitated, to a point that no one knew if he'd ever be able to be mobile again. His family thought this could be how Charlie would live out his life. After many months of therapy he slowly but surely he started to regain his ability to get around. At the time I saw him, he still couldn't hold anything in his left hand unless he was looking right at it. If he had a glass in that hand, he would certainly drop it if he took his eye away from it. Oddly, the only thing he could hold in that hand, without staring at it and not drop it, is a pool cue. Wild how the brain works.

I ask him about moving to California from back east. He said it was a winter day in Masschusetts and he was in class when they showed images of some scuba divers doing their thing off the coast of Santa Barbara. He saw California was warm and sunny in the middle of winter and here he was, surrounded by snow. Shortly afterward he declared, "I'm going to Santa Barbara!" He said he arrived in town, not knowing anyone, and with only $250 in his pocket. He quickly found a job then eventually joined the Santa Barbara Pool League and won the league all-star championship.

At some point Charlie made the move to the Santa Cruz area where I first met him, and that was where he made his permanent home with his family. He was certainly a good pool player but he gave his family top billing.

The one thing I will always remember about Charlie was that he could spot up and comming pool talent a mile away. In 1994 or 1995, he told me to keep an eye on a guy named Corey Deuel. I told him I'd never heard of him. About a year later, everyone had heard of him! Charlie was spot on!

I know there must be many friends in Santa Cruz that must be struggling with this loss. My condolences go out to them and Charlie's family.
 
nfty9er said:
Goodbye to you my trusted friend
We have known each other since I don't know when.
Goodby Charlie, It's hard to die
When all the birds are singing in the sky.
We had joy, we had fun, we had season in the sun.

A tribute to Charlie O'brien, who unfortunately passed away on Tuesday June 14. Charlie was a well known pool players and story teller on the West Coast for many years. Those who knew him always commented on what a great stroke he had, and he did. He had a stroke a couple of years ago that I reported on and he lost the ability to play pool and was paralyzed on his left side. He was carrying on with his life with his lovely wife Randy and his 2 sons who were paramedics that he was proud of and his daughter going to school in Boston conicidentally where Charlie was originally from. He opened a pool room a few years ago before the strokie called Charlie O's In Scotts Valley, Ca. but lost it due to his partners use of drugs. Pool was always his life and biggest hobby although he worked in several professions
Charlie will be missed, I know of no one that ever had a bad thing to say about my friend. God bless him in his new life and God bless his family and it is a sad Father's day indeed.

Dick Cady
Fast Eddy's Billiards
Capitola, Ca.
P.S. Of course we will be planning a memorial tournament for him and tonight a moment of silence prior to our tournament.
My family and I are pretty shocked and broke up about this. Thanks to all for your blessings for him.
Click to expand...

Charlie and I have been communicating on this site. He came to say hello at the tournament in Mountain View.

He was a special person with a great attitude about pool and life. I am sad to learn he passed so soon.

Rest in peace Charlie, you were one of the good guys.
 
I thinkk that was on his bucket list.

jrhendy said:
Charlie and I have been communicating on this site. He came to say hello at the tournament in Mountain View.

He was a special person with a great attitude about pool and life. I am sad to learn he passed so soon.

Rest in peace Charlie, you were one of the good guys.
Click to expand...

In hindsight there were a lot of things he did and said at the pool hall in the months prior to his death that make sense now. One of them was to go to Mt. View and see all the old players he could.
Especially you John, and I could see the excitement in his eyes every time he talked about seeing you. He asked about 3 times a week when the tournament was. He kept getting it wrong. LOL. When he got back he talked about how he had a blast going over old times. That is why it seems so unreal, he did not seem depressed at that time.
God bless.
 
Nice story

8ballEinstein said:
Dick, I can't begin to tell you how shocked I am to hear of this. The last time I was in town, you told me that Charlie had just left the pool room. He ended up comming back when he heard I was there. I'm glad he did because we spent at least a couple hours of quality time talking about all sorts of stuff. At the time, he was in great spirits.

I told Charlie that I found out about his stroke through nfty9er's post, here on AZ a couple of years ago. He had no idea the word got out on this forum. Charlie said that the stroke left him totally incapacitated, to a point that no one knew if he'd ever be able to be mobile again. His family thought this could be how Charlie would live out his life. After many months of therapy he slowly but surely he started to regain his ability to get around. At the time I saw him, he still couldn't hold anything in his left hand unless he was looking right at it. If he had a glass in that hand, he would certainly drop it if he took his eye away from it. Oddly, the only thing he could hold in that hand, without staring at it and not drop it, is a pool cue. Wild how the brain works.

I ask him about moving to California from back east. He said it was a winter day in Masschusetts and he was in class when they showed images of some scuba divers doing their thing off the coast of Santa Barbara. He saw California was warm and sunny in the middle of winter and here he was, surrounded by snow. Shortly afterward he declared, "I'm going to Santa Barbara!" He said he arrived in town, not knowing anyone, and with only $250 in his pocket. He quickly found a job then eventually joined the Santa Barbara Pool League and won the league all-star championship.

At some point Charlie made the move to the Santa Cruz area where I first met him, and that was where he made his permanent home with his family. He was certainly a good pool player but he gave his family top billing.

The one thing I will always remember about Charlie was that he could spot up and comming pool talent a mile away. In 1994 or 1995, he told me to keep an eye on a guy named Corey Deuel. I told him I'd never heard of him. About a year later, everyone had heard of him! Charlie was spot on!

I know there must be many friends in Santa Cruz that must be struggling with this loss. My condolences go out to them and Charlie's family.
Click to expand...

When he really tried, he would struggle with that pool cue and believe it or not I saw him run out a rack of 9 ball one day then convinced him to play in the Monday night tournament. He did and I was happy but it was not to be, it just because too much of a struggle.
 
Sorry

bumping this cause evidently some people missed it.
things drop out of site fast on this site. whew
 
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