Resident Profile: Charles Wince

October 2, 2012 0 Comments

Charles Wince’s backyard After

HW: What is your full name and its origin, or how was it given to you? Are you named after anyone? Do you have any nicknames?

CW: Charles Shipley Wince.

My mother offered two explanations as to why I was named Charles Shipley. She told me that since her name was Mary Ruth and my father’s was Joseph and since they were both Christians, they chose the name “CHarleS” since it held a vague resemblance to “CHRiSt.” The second reason being that I was named after her grandfather, “Charles Shilpley,” who after a successful career heading up many cattle drives in the West had become the marshall of Granville, Ohio, an office he held for an unprecedented three terms. Maybe she was hoping to encourage me to pursue a position as a minister or go into law enforcement. If so, I believe I’ve let her down. The cattleman/marshall story was validated by quite a few photos she had of her elder relative, some of a well-dressed, proud looking cowboy and several more of what is obviously the same man years later in full law officer garb, still looking very proud. Curiously it was only a few years ago that I gathered information on Marshall Shipley from the Internet. It seems he did hold his position for a number of years, however, his name was Joseph Shipley, although there is mention of his son being named “Charles”.

“Wince,” despite what some may think, has nothing to do with the verb but is German in origin, the family being mainly farmers and landowners. My Grandfather, Joe, owned over 400 acre. He and his seven brothers were from the Utica, Ohio area. Despite their predominate German heritage, there is also some Native American blood mixed in the gene pool. This my Grandmother once told me as she pointed out some broad flat faces in old family photos…. Shhh…. Some in the Wince fold still deny any “mixing.”

HW: How old are you?

CW: I just found myself asking, “Am I 57 or 58,” which is as sure a sign as anything that I’m certainly over 50.

HW: Where do you live in Harrison West? Do you own your house or rent?

CW: West 2nd Avenue. I own my home, the rich in eye candy structure I’ve dubbed “WinceWorld.” (And if you are strolling the neighborhood you might see a sign on the porch declaring it such.)

HW: How long have you lived in Harrison West?

CW: Since 1988.

HW: What brought you here, and where did you live before?

CW: Low property prices, in 1988 that is. I bought my house for $37,000 that year, which was an average market price for a “fixer-upper” as it was.

HW: Where were you born, and where did you grow up?

CW: I was born in Columbus in 1955, but my family moved to Granville, Ohio in 1958 then on to the rural surroundings between Jacksonville and Brownsville, Ohio in 1972.

“Grow up?” Well that’s up for debate.

HW: How did you end up in Columbus if you are not from here?

CW: In 1982, I was living above a Bible book store in Newark, Ohio and undergoing a slow stagnation when I had the fortune of getting involved in a misfortune, a misadventure of sorts, that led me to pursue a life in the big city of Columbus where I already had been displaying my art and participating in various art shows in since 1977. I moved into an apartment above the Garden Burlesque, which at time was still an active strip joint and a hub of activities centered around prostitution. Quite a change from living above a Bible book store, I must say; quite the urban education.

HW: Did you go to college? If so, where and what did you study?

CW: College?! I never even collected enough credits to graduate high school due to certain learning disabilities, those being roughly defined as “ADD-related.”

HW: What do you do for a living? How did you end up in that occupation?

CW: I worked as a part-time mailperson for the U.S. Postal Service for 23 years. You know the mail carrier that’s always late, that always gets your mail mixed up with your neighbors and then doesn’t apologize? Well that was me. Other than that I’m glad to say I’m still making art, a pursuit I began 48 years ago.

HW: What do you like to do for fun?

CW: Those secrets are only shared with a chosen few.

HW: What do you like about living in Harrison West?

CW: The smell. They don’t call it the OlenTANGy without reason.

HW: What are your favorite places to go out? Do you frequent any of the neighborhood businesses?

CW: It’s rare that I ever go out. I’m kind of like Elvis Presley in his later years, just fumbling about Graceland gathering applause from my fawning sycophants whenever I shoot off some rounds into one of my many color television sets. I guess my most visited neighborhood business is Giant Eagle, where I’ve found I save a lot of money by taking advantage of their generous coupon programs and by shoplifting.