Charles “Chuck” Cloud was known for making the most of bad situations. Friends and family are remembering him for that as they deal with losing him to something he couldn’t overcome. He passed away May 7 at age 60 from injuries related to a motorcycle accident.
In 1969, Cloud started working at Formost Construction, his father’s Temecula, Calif.-based company, where he specialized in golf course irrigation. He was loyal to the business, constantly traveling to follow work, says his son, Scott Cloud.
“He told me he wanted to teach me the value of a dollar before I left high school,” Scott Cloud says. “He wanted me to work hard. He was the fairest, nicest man you could meet.”
Besides Scott, Chuck Cloud is survived by his mother, Jean, brothers Gary and Kent, wife Alice, daughter Heidi Morris and six grandchildren. The man instilled his philosophy in all of his family members.
“He believed strongly in what his father taught him: You’re only as good as your last project,” Scott Cloud says. “People knew that about him.”
Formost wasn’t the lowest bidder in about half its projects, Scott Cloud estimates, but people realized the quality of the work under Chuck Cloud’s direction.
Chuck Cloud’s work ethic also derived from two tours of duty in Vietnam – first as a heavy equipment operator near Saigon and then as a helicopter door gunner.
“He already was a strong man, and it probably made him stronger,” Scott Cloud says of his father’s service. “He told some stories here and there, but like everyone else, it hurt him. A lot of times he didn’t want to talk about it.”
Chuck Cloud commanded respect for his strength, but equally popular for his sense of humor. Steve Christman, president and c.e.o. of the distribution company Eagle Golf and Landscapes, has done a lot of business with Formost Construction and saw Chuck Cloud at Golf Course Builders Association of America functions.
“He was a practical joker, a clown, a prince of a guy,” Christman says. “All his employees loved him.”
Chuck Cloud could find a way to have fun with even the worst situations, his son says. A natural mechanic, he built a car when he was 16. Years later he was working on a Cleveland when he dropped a wrench. As he picked it up, his hand got stuck in the chain. He ended up losing his thumb and half of his index finger. Chuck being Chuck, he turned the unfortunate accident into a signature handshake.
“There was a little nub on his index finger,” Scott Cloud says. “Usually, he would rub it into someone’s palm. It freaked some people out. Or, he’d see kids picking their noses, or they’d have fruit wraps around their fingers, and he’d tell them, ‘I used to do that, and this is what happened.’”
Michael Key of Key Turf Construction worked with Chuck Cloud on a number of projects. He remembers how Chuck helped ease his mind during a particularly frustrating pump station installation project in Orange County, Calif.
“Things weren’t advancing the way I had hoped, and I looked around and gazed up the slope on the next job site and there was Chuck, sitting and watching what was going on,” Key says. “I waved, and Chuck came down and joined the activities. Next thing I knew, Chuck had the whole crew around him laughing and enjoying his anecdotes and jokes.
“Apparently, Chuck saw the pump station being delivered and followed it to my site,” Key continues. “His first comment to me: ‘What are you doing in my territory?’ Normally I’d worry about a comment like that, but for Chuck, the whole world was ‘his’ territory. We smiled, and he drilled his finger into my palm (his signature handshake) with a smile, of course.”
Key wondered how he would get the project done, and Cloud could sense this, he says.
“Graciously, Chuck excused himself, and we finished the project.”
Chuck Cloud made such an impact on people he met that his funeral was packed with friends and admirers, Scott Cloud says. This included employees of a nearby specialty hardware store he visited occasionally. He had become a special customer because of his friendly joking.
Aside from practical jokes, he enjoyed bikes. He had a dirt bike when he was younger but had given up riding for years because he was busy with the company. It was through the GCBAA that he won a motorcycle – twice.
“We raffled off a Harley motorcycle at the Golf Industry Show, and he won two years in a row,” Christman says. “People wonder how that happened. But when you’re buying $700 worth of tickets, it makes your odds a little better.”
Were he to have won the motorcycle a third year in a row at this year’s show, he would have deferred the prize to the next drawn ticket, Scott Cloud says.
Formost Construction will run smoothly thanks to its many long-time employees, who will be able to keep it running efficiently, says Scott Cloud, the company’s vice president, adding his father had let him take on many of his responsibilities in the past few years.
“With Chuck’s passing, the company should run the same,” Scott Cloud says. “We’ll just be missing Chuck.” GCI