Sisters residents honor Trachsel

Fire trucks lined the road. Fire fighters lined the aisles as bagpipes sang a lonely dirge. Men in uniform stood in every corner of the Sisters Community Church as the Cloverdale and Sisters community said good-bye to Charles Trachsel on Saturday, February 6.

Trachsel died on February 1 of a heart attack.

Trachsel was a founder of the Cloverdale Rural Fire Protection District and was fire chief for 30 years. He was a leader of the effort to bring 911 emergency dispatch to Central Oregon. He was on the committee reviewing the county's charter. He was a board member of the Squaw Creek Irrigation District.

Trachsel's work on behalf of his neighbors was a recurring theme at the services.

Pastor Harold Gott officiated the ceremony. While he acknowledged that the word "celebration" was uncommon at such a solemn occasion, Pastor Gott also said that "there is a great deal to celebrate in the life of a good man."

Charles Trachsel was the "very embodiment of the American volunteer spirithe lived the volunteer creed," said Pastor Gott.

Those present shared moments when Charles had gone out of his way to make someone else's burden a little lighter.

Pastor Gott gave personal thanks that he had been able to take the time to know Charles as a neighbor, and advised those present to remember that "life is a gift only for a while in our possessiondon't put off the saying of a good wordmake the world better at the close of the day than when it began."