Obituary of Charles C. Serrie

Charles Cosgrove Serrie, (Charlie) 88 years old, entered rest on February 20, 2022, after an extended illness.  

Charlie was born in 1933 and spent his early childhood in Jersey City, New Jersey.  Charlie relocated to Breakabeen, New York with his family to start a farm after World War II.  Charlie attended school in Middleburg, New York where he excelled at track and soccer.  Charlie met his beloved wife Anita in high school and after graduating in 1952 they married in 1954.  Charlie served in the Army Reserve at Fort Drum from 1953-1955 and often wrote to Anita of his excitement to marry her and build a life together. They purchased a home in Gilboa, NY in 1954 for $3000 dollars, where they lived until 2021. 

Charlie and Anita, with their family Anne and Herbie, and Father John Serrie built and ran a chicken farm that housed up to 20,000 chickens. They sold eggs to stores as far away as Amsterdam, Albany, and Liberty.  After the barn burned in 1969, Charlie found employment in the Laborers Union and worked on the Minekill hydroelectric project, I-88 road project and West Milton.  While working, Charlie enjoyed bowling and skeet shooting, and was an avid deer hunter and.  He was a lover of television and movies, enjoying everything from musicals to the movies of Stephen Seagal and Charles Bronson.  After retiring, Charlie took great pride in golfing (including making a hole-in-one), reading, tinkering in his wood and machine shops, doing improvements around the home on State Route 30 and most of all, mowing and grooming his extensive one-acre lawn, his pride and joy.  

Charlie is survived by his wife Anita, 87 of Stamford; his children Charles (Cherie) who reside in Florida/New York and Grace who resides in California/Oregon and a sister, Anne (Dick) Kuhn who currently resides in Oneonta.  Charlie has 4 grandchildren, Joe Serrie (Alicia) who reside in Virginia with great grandchildren Xavier and Roman, Jennifer Taite (Norvel) who reside in Louisiana with great grandchildren Sophie and Harrison, Shani OBrien who resides in Colorado and Jessica Wilson who resides in California.  Charlie is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews and all their in-laws and kids who live nearby or far away.  Nieces and nephews and their partners were like immediate family members to Charlie, and he treated them as his kids.

A service will take place at 10AM on Saturday February 26 at the Gilboa Methodist Church, 199 NY-990V in Gilboa, New York with a reception to follow.

In lieu of flowers, donations in honor of Charlie may be made to the Gilboa Methodist Church, PO Box 135, Grand Gorge, NY 12434 or to Helios Care, 297 River Street Service Road, Suite 1, Oneonta, NY 13820.

Please visit www.macarthurfh.com to share a condolence with Charlie’s family.