Charles Scanlon

1953 - 2021

Charles Scanlon

DYER, IN - Charles Scanlon, 68, died suddenly at his Dyer home on July 26. Scanlon, known as "Chuck", was the former president and owner of East Chicago-based Central States Marketing, a successful bar and restaurant supply company started by his late father decades earlier. Chuck sold the business in 2020.

Chuck Scanlon was born on April 22, 1953 in Chicago's South Shore Hospital, the second of five children born to Raymond and Virginia Scanlon. He is survived by his wife of 44 years, Anita (White) Scanlon, and his only remaining sibling, Beth (Joe) Lorenz of Omaha, NE, along with many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Kevin and Timothy, and sister, Peggy.

Family and friends remembered Chuck as a hard-working, fun-loving man loyal to his friends, family, customers and sports teams, quick with a joke and gifted with an encyclopedic memory. He spoke in a deep, froggy voice seemingly stolen from a WWE wrestler who'd gargled with whiskey and broken glass.

He attended Our Lady of Perpetual Help (OLPH) and Morton Elementary schools, Morton Middle School and graduated in 1971 from Morton High School in Hammond, where he excelled academically and played baseball and basketball.

"He took up the violin for one month because he thought it would broaden his appeal to girls," said his wife, Anita Scanlon.

The couple met at a high school football game and Chuck and his friends rode their bikes to her parents' Highland home.

"Then nothing happened until I graduated from Indiana University and returned home," she recalled. "Chuck was a fun guy who was generous and a good sport. In the beginning he was almost awkward around me and I found that charming. We had many things in common. Our parents were recently divorced and we bonded over that. And Chuck always had nice cars."

The couple married in 1977 and four years later, Anita delivered their first and only child, Charles Scanlon, Jr., called "Charlie." Charlie was the light of their lives, a bright, funny, sweet kid who was diagnosed at 10 with Batten Disease, a fatal neuro degenerative disorder that first robbed him of his sight, then his muscle control, and claimed his life at the age of 22, years longer than the average lifespan for Batten children.

"They were buddies," Anita Scanlon said. "Charlie used to play tricks on Chuck and he usually got a kick of that. Chuck would lay in Charlie's room with him, even when he was much older, and watch "Wheel of Fortune" and movies together. No matter how big Charlie got, Chuck would pick him up and carry him from his wheelchair. We lived to make Charlie happy. Chuck was a great father."

Anita Scanlon said her husband's family suffered a lot of tragedy.

"But he took the responsibility on his shoulders and did what he had to do to hold everything together, though it caused him a lot of inner turmoil," she remembered. "He ran a very successful business. Everyone depended on Chuck."

Chuck was an avid golfer who continued to golf until health issues forced him to stop. The Scanlon's traveled annually to Puerto Vallarta in Mexico to enjoy the beaches and golf courses there.

A lifelong Chicago Bears and White Sox fan, Chuck was also proud of his Irish heritage. The Scanlons threw memorable St. Patrick's Day parties for family, friends and co-workers for 30 years at their Dyer home. Chuck cooked the corned beef and cabbage and tended bar, wearing dopey green plastic derbies and vests and leading toasts.

"He was in his element there," Anita Scanlon said.

Childhood friend Paul "Woody" Doughman of Bloomington, Ind., said Chuck could always make others laugh. "He was a jokester who could recite bawdy Irish limericks and crack us up,"Doughman said. "And Chuck was a wizard on the baseball field, a real scrapper who could always get on base. He cried when Morton's football coach wouldn't let him join the team because he was too small and skinny. Chuck had an incredible memory and could recall stats from games we played 50 years ago."

Lifelong friend Jim Hunt of Schererville played basketball with Chuck at OLPH in grade school. "He was the team star and I was not. He was the really cool guy and I wasn't so cool. So it was a strange relationship. What we had in common was trying to push the envelope on whatever we could get away with."

Nothing serious. Late night rides in their parents' cars. Cruising with friends and meeting girls.

"Chuck was really outgoing, a natural salesman," Hunt said. "And he was a loyal friend who always looked after his pals and helped them when he could."

David Krizan of Hammond met Chuck in 8th grade and became fast friends.

"We were both very competitive and stayed that way our whole lives, no matter what games we played," said Krizan, who recalled a teenage altercation when they two relied on each other. "Chuck didn't run. We had each other's back in bad times and good times. We were like brothers. You couldn't find a more loyal friend. I could trust him with anything."

Chuck's first cousin, Kenny Johnson of Mokena, IL, was only two years older.

"We've known each other all of our lives," said Johnson, who worked for 42 years as a sales representative for Central States Marketing. "Chuck was a go-getter with lots of ideas of how to grow and improve the company. For years we were inseparable: cousins, friends and co-workers. Chuck was a great father and husband and a goofball, just like me, who liked to laugh and have fun."

A memorial service will be held for Chuck Scanlon in early September.