Charles B. Hebler of Baltimore, MD, has passed away, leaving behind a family and community who loved him dearly.
The following words honor a life that mattered to many.
Charles spent his working life as ['Rheem Manufacturing'] — and was, by all accounts, loved by those who knew him best.
Charles's children carry forward what was given to them.
Charlie was born in Baltimore, Maryland to John and Helen Hebler. He was
one of three children, with an older brother, John Jr., and a younger sister,
Dorothy. The highlight of his early education was Mt. St. Joseph High
School and he was immensely proud of being a member of the 1947
graduating class, still attending alumni meetings into his 90's. He earned
his A.A. Degree from Essex Community College in 1973, becoming the
first college graduate in the Hebler family, then continued on to earn his
B.S. degree from Towson State University in 1975.
Charlie's career as a Systems Analyst - he started in the computer field
when the world was using punch cards! - began at IBM and ended with
the City of Baltimore. In between, he worked at Rheem Manufacturing,
ARA (Automatic Retailers of America), Sinai Hospital, Morgan State
University and the Maryland State Computer Information Center that
serviced all MD State Colleges.
The B&O Railroad was not only the company from which Charlie's father
retired, but also where Charlie began his career after high school. He
started as a file clerk where he met another young file clerk named Ella
Brown. Charlie and Ella married in June, 1950 and were devoted to each
other for 47 years. They had two children, David and Mary Lynn, who they
raised and supported with much love and pride. Sadly, Ella died in 1997
and Charlie lived independently in the house they bought and raised their
family in until 2024 when he moved to Oak Crest Retirement Community.
Charlie's passions growing up as a Baltimore kid continued throughout his
life. He always loved the Orioles, bowling (both duckpin and tenpin),
listening to the radio, going to movies and shows (vaudeville when he was
younger), and eating steamed crabs. He especially loved comedy and
was a master at telling jokes. His love of movies and music led him to be
a huge fan of movie musicals and earned him the right to call himself the
#1 fan of the Sound of Music. Through the years, he also added golf to his
favorite hobbies.
Perhaps, though, the hobby he was most proud of, most enjoyed, and was
most known for was his poetry. He named himself the Parkville Poet and
wrote hundreds of poems throughout his life filling 5 overflowing binders.
Not just any poetry, though - funny poetry - and everything was in
perfect rhyme and tempo. His creativity and sense of humor was in full
display through his poems. Anyone who knew him would be gifted with a
folder of new poems every time he saw them. At Oak Crest, he would put
a new poem outside his door every day. Often, he would take a silly news
article and turn it into a poem. There was nary a topic missed in his very
extensive collection.
Charlie was a kind, honest, funny, creative guy with amazing life
experiences spanning 96 years. To know him was to love him. He was
preceded in death by his brother, John Hebler, Jr., his brother-in-law,
Walter Cornell, and his loving wife, Ella Brown Hebler. He is survived by
his sister, Dorothy Cornell, his son, David Hebler and fiancee, Janet
Wattles, his daughter, Mary Lynn Devlin and son-in-law, Brian Devlin, and
several nieces and nephews.
