Charlotte.com: Catawba Valley Neighbors
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• Kurt Berndt
  The Catawba Valley lost several notable residents in 2007, each leaving an impression on the region with their service, determination and dedication.The mastermind of Hickory's annual Oktoberfest died, three soldiers came home covered by American flags and two prominent Taylorsville men lost their lives in a plane crash.A refugee from Nazi Germany was among those who died, but his family's shop in downtown Hickory still bears his name, and a 102-year-old pottery painter and ceramic doll maker left behind a legacy in her crafts.Kurt BerndtHe had little money. He spoke no English. He had no job. But when Kurt Berndt, who died Feb. 24 at age 88, escaped to New York from Nazi Germany in 1939, simply making it to the United States set him on the course for the rest of his days.Barely into his 20s when he arrived, the young Jewish man was drafted into the U.S. Army soon after World War II began. In his native land, he'd been studying to be an engineer; in the Army, he repaired sights on big guns.Kurt and his wife, Helmi, a fellow German refugee he met in New York, lost many family members in the Holocaust. But out of tragedy, they built a new life. Kurt carried his innate understanding of all mechanical things with him, and in the fall of 1946 founded a small watch and jewelry repair shop in downtown Hickory.Over the years, Berndt's shop grew, and it lives on as a ski and snowboard, army-navy surplus, camping, pawn and jewelry store. Though Kurt sold the business to his son, Ron, in the late 1970s, he kept working there part-time until a few years ago."He taught me... . Life is too short to sit around," Ron said. "He stressed this -- a child should not lay around and watch TV, he should do something. That was his life, to be active, enjoy the life that you have." -- Jen AronoffRobby BowmanRobby Bowman, who was hoping to start a family with his wife and planning to scale Mount Everest when he returned from Iraq, died April 13 when a roadside bomb exploded near the vehicle he was driving as part of a convey in Kuwait.He was scheduled to return home July 21 and was promoted to sergeant after his death.Bowman, a 29-year-old Caldwell County native, had an infectious personality and enjoyed the outdoors and being around the people he loved, his family said.He was assigned to the 513th Transportation Company in Fort Lewis, Wash., and was making plans for his return, said his wife, Michelle Bowman. Her husband talked about buying a Jeep, wanted to have a baby and enjoyed watching racing, drinking Sun Drop and eating his favorite foods."He was a good, old, proper Southern boy who loved barbecuing and his NASCAR," she said. -- Marcie YoungJoe ChevesGolf, Joe Cheves once said, is fascinating: It can put you on the biggest high in the world and the biggest low. For Cheves, who died from cancer July 31 at age 89, the game provided a lifetime of high points.A native of Cheraw, S.C., Cheves began teaching golf in 1946 and became the head pro at Morganton's Mimosa Hills five years later.He played in two U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships, lost the 1978 PGA Seniors Championship in a playoff and won four Carolinas PGA Senior tournaments. He's a member of the Carolinas Golf and N.C. Sports halls of fame.And in 1999, he set the world record for most strokes (17) below a golfer's age, shooting an 8-under-par 64 at Mimosa Hills.A regular sight on the practice tee, Cheves told the Observer in 2005 that he was most proud of sharing his love of the game with younger players; after his death, former students praised him for his teaching ability and kind nature -- which was evident on and off the course."I get as much enjoyment from practicing as I do playing," Cheves said at the time. "It does test your patience. You can pretty well figure out a person's character on an 18-hole round of golf." -- Jen AronoffBeemer HarrellBy the time he died, on Oct. 13 at age 83, Beemer Harrell had been an architect in Hickory for more than 50 years. And though he loved designing churches and worked on an array of smaller jobs, he was most devoted to building and reshaping something much larger and ever-evolving: downtown Hickory.A native of rural Marshville, in Union County, Harrell served as a bomber pilot during World War II and went on to earn two architecture degrees from Georgia Tech. In 1953, he opened his Hickory office.With his wife, artist Julia Rush, Harrell was a tireless downtown advocate. In the 1980s, he helped found Oktoberfest, which in turn helped support the Hickory Downtown Development Association. Through Harrell's leadership, both grew over the years.Tall and thin, with a white beard and glasses, Harrell could often be spotted around downtown in a wheelchair in his later years -- still out and about, attending downtown meetings and remaining involved."He shared the love of making things with me and how to make things by the giving of ourself," daughter Madeline Ryan said. "He taught me the value of being engaged in life." -- Jen AronoffBrian HoldenEven after days patrolling the Iraqi desert atop a Humvee, 20-year-old Brian Holden would come back to his camp and send his family photos of him grinning and making funny faces, said his stepfather, Eugene DeLozier."When you were depressed, he'd be silly just to keep you smiling," DeLozier said. "And this is when there's a war going on."Holden died April 9, when a bomb exploded beneath his Humvee. He had joined the Army shortly after graduating from Newton-Conover High School in 2005 and was a member of the 17th Field Artillery Unit in Fort Carson, Colo.Amanda Holden said her husband's outgoing personality, humor and generosity made him an instant friend to many. He'd give spare phone cards to soldiers in his unit and share candy he received from family with Iraqi children."You could meet him one time, and you'd never forget him," she said. -- Marcie YoungWard LinderWard Linder, an Army specialist from Hickory, died June 19, killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.Linder, 24, had expected to come home for a two-week leave in July.But he died in Baqubah of wounds from an improvised explosive device, according to the Army. He was with the 1st Battalion, 12th Calvary Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Calvary Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas.At the time of his death, Linder's father, Darryl Linder, said his son believed in the war mission in Iraq.Linder signed with the Marine Corps while at Fred T. Foard High School. He left for boot camp a month after graduation, serving four years, including a tour in Afghanistan. After working for his father for a year, he signed up with the Army.The 6-foot-4-inch outdoors lover was patriotic, his father said. "He was there by choice." -- Hannah MitchellDr. Walter Long and Benny SharpeWalter Long Jr., a prominent Alexander County doctor, and Benny Hall Sharpe, a former commercial airline pilot, were killed June 21 when Long's small, single-engine plane crashed on a rural airfield outside Taylorsville.The men, both of Taylorsville, loved flying and traveling, especially across the open wilderness of Alaska and Canada, family and friends said.After a nearly 40-year career as a family practitioner, Long, 75 retired and began plotting long journeys across the nearly untouched parts of North America with his wife, Mary, said Dr. Russell Faulkenberry, Long's former partner at Family Care Center.Sharpe, a 70-year-old retired Piedmont Airlines and U.S. Airways pilot, also had spent time exploring the north's rough terrain. In the early 1990s, before Sharpe retired from a nearly 25-year career as a commercial airline pilot, he bought a seaplane and mapped out, stop-by-stop, a trip over the Rocky Mountains, into Canada and across the Arctic Circle and Nova Scotia.His attention to detail, said Sharpe's daughter, Constance Sharpe, was consistent in everything her father did."He understood the responsibility that came with the job he had, and from that perspective he taught us how to be responsible and independent," she said. -- Marcie YoungErnestine Hilton SigmonErnestine Hilton Sigmon, a Catawba Valley pottery pioneer, died March 5 at age 102.Sigmon was a pottery painter and ceramic doll maker who started out as a child painting pots made by her father, Auby Hilton. She helped her mother, Maude, decorate pots with hand-sculpted and painted dogwoods and painted scenes.The market for handmade pots started to shrink in the early 20th century, when glass jars and mass-produced pots emerged. Then Prohibition reduced the need for whiskey jugs. The Sigmons adapted to the change, decorating pots for tourists and helping shift Catawba Valley pottery from utilitarian to decorative.Ernestine later branched into doll-making, though her pottery painting cemented her role in what had been a male-dominated craft.She continued working until about 10 years before her death. -- Hannah Mitchell
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