Lloyd John "Charlie" Roes

1938 - 2025  (86 years)

• Name	Lloyd John "Charlie" Roes
  Born	3 Aug 1938	, Ontario, Canada
  Gender	Male
  Name	Charlie Roes
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-156296
  Died	25 May 2025	Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada
  Buried	Cremated
  Person ID	I156296	Generations
  Last Modified	9 Jun 2025

  
  

  Family	Marion Wilken
  Last Modified	10 Jun 2025
  Family ID	F45536	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  Roes,LloydCharlie-and-NormWheeler-0001-MarionRoes2019.jpg Lloyd "Charlie" Roes and Norm Wheeler (right) built this super modified race car with a 347 c.i. American Pontiac motor about 1960. It was a winner at Bridgeport (according to the picture caption). - Marion Roes 2019

  
  

• Notes

  Telecom installer, 80, not ready to leave work buddies behind He tried out retirement once already and he didn't like it. by Jeff Hicks Waterloo Region Record KITCHENER - Some octogenarians have a bucket list. Charlie Roes, 80, a former Bell line technician with six decades of dial tone ringing softly in his ears has his own bucket truck. "It's kind of funny," said Dave Waddle, operations manager at Network Telecom in Kitchener where Roes has worked for a quarter century. "He was always climbing extension ladders. So, about 10 years ago, we went out and we bought a bucket van so Charlie doesn't have to go up ladders any more. He says, 'Forget it. I'll never use that in my life.' Now, you can't get him out of it." Up in Charlie's bucket, you'll often find him installing commercial data cables for businesses. It's not like olden dial-up days, when Charlie's cheerful working life was all about stringing and repairing phone lines. Imagine a five-digit number for Kitchener's Sherwood exchange or three-digit number for Milverton. Charlie need not imagine. He remembers. That was before he retired from Bell. The buyout made financial sense, an accountant advised. He took it but missed the job. A year later, he landed at his current employer. A bucket truck later, he has no plans to retire again and kick around a tiresome bucket list. But why keep working? "It's the people I'm working with, the people I'm working for," said Charlie, a four-time great-grandfather who lives in Waterloo with wife Marion. "To me, it's like going to visit friends every morning." Those same friends threw him an 80th birthday party last September. A lot of Charlie's family met his co-workers for the first time that candle-heavy cake day. Finally, they understood why he won't retire. "When are we going fishing?" Charlie often asks his bosses. He's always eager to drop a line in for a Toronto salmon derby or a Lake Erie walleye. But ocean tuna aren't on their must-fish list. Sorry, Charlie. Still, back in October, he wondered if his installer days were done. Charlie thought he was getting a cold. He got the sweats. Doctors wondered if he was having a heart attack or stroke. Turns out, his spleen had ruptured. "They have no idea why," Charlie said. By early December, he was back at work. He never really thought of retiring. The camaraderie of the job beckoned him back to his dozen-member band of installer brothers and the bucket they named for him. "Any overhead cable, he's the first one to jump in it," service manager Bill Schultz said of Charlie. "And he'll go for it too." Father Time, a customer once called Charlie. The running gag goes that Alexander Graham Bell made his first phone call to Watson but his second was to Charlie. He can be mischievously gung-ho too. Often, like a coffee-friendly Jack LaLanne of a data-driven modern world, Charlie will grab the bulkiest gear on a job site while the younger, huskier co-workers lug clipboards and No. 2 pencils. "He's the smallest guy carrying all this heavy stuff and we're walking around with a piece of paper," Schultz said. "And everybody's looking at us saying, 'Help the guy out, for God's sakes!' He's a goer, all right." But one day, Charlie may have to leave his bucket and his buddies behind for good. He's just not sure when that day will come. "I don't know," he said, pondering when he might retire. "Once I feel I'm not pulling my weight anymore." Hicks, J. (2019). Telecom installer, 80, not ready to leave work buddies behind. TheRecord.com. Retrieved 14 February 2019, from https://www.therecord.com/news-story/9174906-telecom-installer-80-not-ready-to-leave-work-buddies-behind/?fbclid=iwar1cnza3lzwbk66o7oliev1q2sj5vflollwi6xmgmicv92cy9qwgt3lcjiq#.XGSofQlV0EU.facebook ______________ Roes, Lloyd John "Charlie" Peacefully passed away on Sunday, May 25, 2025 at his residence in Waterloo at the age of 86 years. Dear husband of Marion (Wilken, Grundy) for 42 years. Lovingly remembered by his daughters Pam, Wendy (Will), Shelley, Camille, Josie (Brett), and Jeff (Carolyn). Lloyd is greatly missed by his sister Florence, in-laws Christine, Grace, Bob (Darlene), and nieces, nephews, and their families. Dearest Papa of grandchildren Danielle (Ryan), Corey (Brenda), Meaghan (Jonathan), Leah (Clay), Jessi (Kyle), Sarah (David), James, Matthew; Mitchell, Zack (Morgan); and of his ten great-grandchildren, including his name sake Charlie. Predeceased by his parents John and Barbara (Wagler) Roes, sisters Anna Mae, and Mary, brothers-in-law Roy, Wilf and Skip. Charlie retired from Bell Canada after 34 years, then from Network Telecom after 25 years. He enjoyed snowmobiling, fishing, working, and more fishing with friends! Cremation has taken place. Family and friends are welcome to come and go on Sunday, June 1, 2025 from 2-4 and 6-8 p.m. at the Dreisinger Funeral Home, 62 Arthur St. S., Elmira. Words of remembrance will be at 3 p.m. In his memory, donations to Grand River Regional Cancer Centre or The Working Center, Kitchener would be appreciated and may be made through the funeral home. Marion thanks her family and friends for their many offers of help, and also thanks the wonderful Palliative Care Partners of Waterloo-Wellington who took such good care of Charlie. www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com Obituary information for Lloyd 'Charlie' Roes Obituary information for. Available at: https://www.dreisingerfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Lloyd-Charlie-Roes?obId=42627559&fbclid=IwY2xjawKki9ZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFPNDlKekxIczNRSlhYdnQ0AR6-RE42nm8mgmesDP0cUO-c4l9ghIOEjmY4xXl2yTAK3Q_6--ASPU2QiydGNA_aem_snQJvEsgeMkQ8DkPJT6eaw (Accessed: 29 May 2025).

  
  

• Event Map

  Born - 3 Aug 1938 - , Ontario, Canada Died - 25 May 2025 - Waterloo City, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth