Charles Wilson Gaa

Marshall, NC—Charles “Chuck” Wilson Gaa, 63, of Marshall passed away Saturday, April 4, 2009 at home.  A native of Washington, D.C., he was born February 22, 1946 to the late Charles John Gaa and Jean Powers Gaa of Woodlands, TX.  Chuck was owner of Gaaco Chassis Design and designed and fabricated prototype chassis for Nascar, IMSA and individual racecar drivers.   When he sold his company, he worked for Dayco as a management and planning consultant.  Following his retirement, he moved to Marshall, NC and found a home within the community and with Builders Express in Mars Hill, NC.  In his spare time, he volunteered on the Madison County Arts Council.  He was a wonderful father, brother, son, and friend.  In addition to his mother, he is survived by his son, Adam Gaa of Opelika, AL; daughter, Rae Powers and husband Ian Randall of Brighton, England; brothers, John Gaa and wife Cynthia of Willis, TX, James Gaa and wife Marilyn of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Thomas Gaa and wife Karen of Menlo Park, CA; and a precious grandson, Alex Powers Randall.  A celebration of his life will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Monday at the Madison County Arts Center in Marshall.  Memorials may be made to the Madison County Arts Council, 90 S. Main Street, Marshall, NC.

 

Source:  Legacy.com obituary database for Asheville Citizen Times newspaper, April 12, 2009

Click here for pictures of Chuck and quotes from his relatives about his life.

Chuck’s Role In The Family – Tom Gaa

            My brother Chuck's role in the family was what you might expect.  He often was the focal point for fun and exciting -- and, often, somewhat dangerous -- experiences.   You just knew (and, at some level, admired) that he marched to his own drummer.  He saw, felt and lived life differently, and we relied on that fact.

            One story that I grew up hearing – the earliest I know of Chuck – stands out as emblematic of his relationship to life:  Supposedly, when he was about four or five years old, my mother corralled John and Chuck outside the house on their way to some neighbourhood adventure.   She made very clear where they could go and what she expected.  John stood there, toe to toe, and “discussed” those directions with her.  Chuck, on the other hand, readily and pleasantly agreed with what she said.  Then, her directives given and her back turned, Chuck went around the corner and set off to his original destination – regardless of the just completed parental admonition.   Somehow, even when the same thing happened with one of us, you just knew it was not done with any intent to defy or hurt you.  Instead, a siren just called and he had to look – to know what lay out there and to experience whatever it was that called.

            Unquestionably, he saw the world differently than many folks and he did not hesitate to articulate that view to one and all – both by word and action.  He seemed, naturally, to stand a step apart and to take an approach to life that was a few degrees to the right or left from whatever position taken by the rest of us.  I think that we not only admired and respected that commitment to his own views but, really, we gratefully drew energy and inspiration from it.   We knew that no matter what might be going on in our life, he was a short call away and he would listen; he would tell it like it was and he would always care. 

We miss him and always will.  But, it’s clear to me, he’s always here, talking to me and I try to see what he shared with each of us.  He always seemed to have “done it” and, often, to have learned a lesson that would help each of us avoid something or to embrace something with gusto.   I thank him daily for that gift and look forward to more talks through time.

 

College Years- Jim Gaa, Brother

            Following high school, Chuck enrolled at Michigan State University. Although he initially majored in Canadian Studies, he eventually switched to marketing, probably as an expedient measure to achieve a timely graduation. But his heart was elsewhere. He was really a natural mechanical designer and engineer. 

            During his college years, he was a volunteer fireman for Meridian Township for several years. He could sleep through anything, but a whisper in his ear that the fire siren had gone off was all it took for him to be instantly awake. He played hockey in Detroit weekly, under the guise of going to the MSU Library for an evening of study. For a while, he lived with his brother Jim in a basement apartment that was a gathering place for his friends -- a pleasant distraction. He started a small repair business, GAACO -- a company name that endured for years. GAACO had a 3-part price schedule: $5/hour to fix something (anything), $10/hour if the person wanted to hang around and watch, and $15/hour if he wanted to help. His heart was already in the car racing business. After introductions to some racers via a neighbor, he got his start working with a high school teacher from Ohio who spent his summers racing. It was truly a shoestring operation, financed by small winnings and a high school teacher's salary. On one occasion, the car's transmission broke irreparably in practice the day before a race. So, Chuck went to a junk yard and bought a broken transmission -- something that was within their budget! In spite of having never seen the inside of a transmission, he took it apart and fixed it -- and it worked during the race the next day. The car was not competitive against the major figures of the time, but it gave him great experience, and the opportunity to move several steps up, to prepare and maintain a car for A.J. Foyt. 

            Chuck always gave to others. An example of this was one year when his brother Jim and his wife Marilyn decided to spend a year of graduate school living in a log cabin in the Missouri Ozarks. Chuck was concerned that they might not have enough wood for the woodstove, to last the winter. So, he drove his truck with his chainsaw from Atlanta to the middle of Missouri to be sure the pile was big enough. It's the kind of thing he did.

            Chuck could be impulsive in making big decisions. There was the time he bought a house, which was a bit of a fixer-upper, without going inside. It was a good decision.

 

Adult Life - Marilyn Gaa, Sister in Law

            One might say that, having married 3 times, Chuck was “unlucky in love”, (maybe a hopeless romantic?!) but he was devoted to his two children, Rae and Adam. Career opportunities and love led him to move to Georgia, Michigan, Florida, and N. Carolina, and in each town he found his niche with new friends and ways to contribute to the community.

            Chuck never forgot family ties to his brothers, their families, and to his parents. He participated in birthday phone calls with his brothers and stayed in touch through the year, with phone calls and visits. And he usually had a pet dog, a loyal stray or the ugliest one on offer at the pound.

            After many puzzling health crises, Multiple Sclerosis was diagnosed, which made Chuck’s life challenging, but he kept it at “bay, living an active life to the end.  His high school friends will recall that he had a special coat he wore to school with roomy pockets to hold a six-pack of beer.  It was to Chuck’s credit that he gave up drinking more than 20 years ago and never looked back. His years of smoking and drinking may have compromised his health, as evidenced by cardiovascular problems that brought his end too soon.

            Chuck had varied tastes in art and music. Some of us are proud owners of his welded sculptures. Who would guess that the guy usually seen with welding holes in his jeans would put on a tux and top hat to attend the opera whenever he had a chance? Wherever he worked, in his “state of the art” welding and fabrication shops, his radio would be tuned to classical music.

 

Work – John Gaa, Brother

            Chuck had a long, and very successful career building race cars for Chevrolet, Buick, Porsche, and Jaguar, as well as a number of individual racers. Chuck owned GAACO Enterprises in Atlanta and was contracted by General Motors (Buick and Chevrolet) to design and build a series of radically different NASCAR race cars for owners such as Junior Johnson and Travis Carter while serving as GM's suspension and chassis consultant. Chuck became involved in stock car racing with Jim Welty in USAC while still a teenager and served as chief mechanic for A.J. Foyt's USAC Championship winning Ford for Jack Bowsher while still in college. Following graduation, he worked for two years for Petty Enterprises designing and fabricating cars and later he worked with Cotton Owens and Jim Ruggles before starting GAACO. In his years in NASCAR, Chuck worked with drivers such as Richard Petty, Pete Hamilton, Neil Bonnett, and Harry Gant, and owners such as Jr. Johnson, Cotton Owens, and Travis Carter.

            In addition to his work in NASCAR, Chuck was also commissioned by General Motors to build a number of road racing cars for both the IMSA and Trans Am series and served as a suspension consultant for Jaguar cars with their GTP car in IMSA. Chuck also designed and built the GTP 935 Porches driven to victories in the 24 hours of Daytona, the 12 hours of Sebring, and to the World Endurance Championship by John Paul and John Paul, Jr.

            Later, Chuck contracted with DAYCO (an aftermarket automotive company) to design, build and run their national testing laboratory.  He then became a “trouble shooter” for the company.  Knowing Chuck you may not find it hard to believe that he had no formal job title within the company, and reported directly to the President of North American Operations – his own man as always.

 

Lucy, 2^nd Wife

            Your dad used to talk about how Harry Gant, a race care driver from Hueytown, AL, who drove the Skoal Bandit your dad built, always said he was an ok driver but a pretty good carpenter.  Your dad said that was a good way to look at things, and he considered himself to be an ok race car builder but a pretty good welder and wanted to be remembered as such.  I think that was the one constant throughout his life; no matter what he did to earn $, he always welded something n his spare time.  He always had a welding shop. Even when we lived in Berkeley, the garage was his shop and the cars were outside in the snow!

 

Adam, Son

Speech form celebration of life service:

He was a really good buddy of mine

He would take me to the movies that my mother wouldn’t

We saw a lot of awful movies (“Snakes on a Plane” anyone)

He was an excellent cook

He loved hot and spicy foods

When Rae was little, she told him his food was hot when it was cold

He would grow his own chilies

We made habanero chili jam for Christmas gifts that was too hot for most peoples’ mouths

He was always in a good mood, and was glad to hear my voice

He was one of the few people that I could have a conversation with about technology and he would understand what I was talking about

He was very adventurous and we took many trips

He took me to Alaska

We would frequently explore the countryside without a plan or destination in mind

I was introduced to a lot of new foods, like catfish

One time I ate catfish for breakfast, lunch, and dinner

One time, my dad was working in his shop in Ferndale, and he accidentally ran his finger though the band saw.  Ouch!  His finger just dangling, with only a small portion still attached.  They had to sew it back together.  I’m sure it hurt!

My dad loved:

?       His Life

?       Marshall and the Appalachians

?       The opera

?       His Parents

?       His Brothers

?       Me

?       Rae

?       Percy

?       Tony

?       Graham (aka “Rabbit”)

?       And Ruggles

                And we loved him…and we will miss him.

 

                Rae Powers, Daughter

            He loved books too … reading them, talking about them and trying to impress/ shock people by his collection.  Twain, Lincoln, Marx, The Leadership styles of Attila the Hun, and a Dictionary on display and in use that was as big 2 ft square!

            He taught me to be a kind rebel, a creative cook, a defensive driver and how to get my hands dirty, swear like a sailor and tell a good story!

            I came across a Mark Twain quote that I think speaks to what he would think about how to live life…

 

Life is short, Break the Rules.

Forgive quickly, Love truly.

Laugh uncontrollably.

And never regret ANYTHING

that makes you smile.

 

-Mark Twain