Obituary of Charles B. Tarrants
Charles B. Tarrants, 60, passed away unexpectedly on Saturday, November 8, 2014.
Charlie was born on June 4, 1954 in Graham, KY, the son of Mary Estelle (Tarrants) Nelson.
He received his Bachelor of Science from Western Kentucky University, his Master of Science from the University of Denver and his doctorate from Syracuse University. He was a professor of the Golf and Plant Science Department at SUNY Delhi for the past 26 years where he received the Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching in 1998. He also received an Advanced Technological Education Award from the National Science Foundation for his development and application of a Micropropagation Training Lab at SUNY Delhi.
Charlie married Noel Oellrich in 2000 and were blessed with three children; Carter and Elianna (twins) and Owen.
Charlie loved the beauty of nature and delighted in cultivating plants of all kinds around his property, producing waves of breathtaking color every summer. He passed on his love, respect and awareness for the environment to his children. He enjoyed speaking to community organizations and trade shows on horticulture topics.
He served as vice chair on the Village of Delhi Planning Board from 2002-2013.
Charlie loved to write and he thoroughly enjoyed writing a monthly column titled "By the Pond" for a church newspaper. These stories were based on his reflections of life through his experiences with nature. He also spent many years devoted to genealogy research for himself and others, writing many historical articles.
Charlie is survived by his children Carter, Elianna and Owen Tarrants and their mother Noel Tarrants and cousins Jean (Shelby) Clark and George and Willie Vinson of KY.
Memorial contributions can be made to the College Foundation at Delhi in memory of Charlie Tarrants for the establishment of a scholarship for a freshman student interested in Plant Science.
Online condolences may be made to his family at www.hallandpeet.com.
A private memorial service will take place at a later date.
