Charles Handsaker

Charles Edwin "Chick" Handsaker passed away at his home in McHenry, Maryland on February 18. He was 91 and had been in failing health since a fall last spring.

The son of Charles W. and Nona Klump Handsaker, Mr. Handsaker was born and raised in Nevada, Iowa. After graduation from Nevada High School, he attended Simpson College for a time before moving to New York City to pursue a career in music. He was an accomplished tenor singer, and performed with a quartet named the Blendtones across the U.S. and in Canada.

During the Second World War, Mr. Handsaker served with the Military Police in the guard unit assigned to protect President and Mrs. Roosevelt's estate in Hyde Park, New York. During that assignment, he produced and participated in many musical shows to entertain the president and his guests and also was on duty at Hyde Park when President Roosevelt was laid to rest there in 1945.

While in the service, Mr. Handsaker wed Frances Tillinghast Dane of Larchmont, New York and Narragansett, Rhode Island.

After the war, Chick Handsaker resumed his singing career with another quartet called the Day Dreamers. The group performed with many of the great names of the day, including Tommy Dorsey and Ella Fitzgerald.

Upon the birth of his second child, Mr. Handsaker gave up his professional singing career and began a successful career in the commercial insurance business, holding increasingly responsible positions with Commercial Credit Corporation in Mamaroneck, New York, Glen Ridge, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Dallas. While in Dallas, he became active in Rotary International and once again pursued his love of singing with the Rotary Chorus in performances across the country and abroad.

After his second retirement in the late seventies, Mr. Handsaker began a third career assisting his wife in operating retail gift and gourmet cookware establishments in Dallas and Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

After his wife's death, Chick moved to McHenry in 1995. He maintained his association with Rotary and continued his passion for singing, most recently with the choir of St. Mark's Lutheran Church.

Mr. Handsaker is survived by his daughter, Julia Dane Crolius of Pittsburgh, his son, Charles William Handsaker of Gulph Mills, Pennsylvania, two brothers, Fred and Richard Handsaker of Utah, two grandchildren, Amy Barton Crolius of Alexandria, Virginia, and Jeffrey Dane Crolius of San Francisco, and many nieces and nephews.

Funeral and interment arrangement are private. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions may be made to Hospice of Garrett County (P.O. Box 271, Oakland, MD 21550) or Planned Parenthood of Western Pennsylvania Action Fund (933 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222).

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