BAKERSVILLE — Claude (Sonny) Bartle, age 82, of Bakersville, NC, passed away November 17,2022 at the Blue Ridge Regional Hospital in Spruce Pine, NC. Claude, more commonly referred to as Sonny to his many friends, associates and family, was born June 27, 1940, to Claude and Ruth (White) Bartle at Mercy Hospital in Janesville, WI. He was the youngest of four children and graduated from Janesville High School in 1959.
He married Marilyn Mae Thompson in 1974. For many years, Sonny’s free time involved hunting and fishing.
He also raised and trained Coon Hounds, where placing 1st through 3rd became the norm. During that time, he found his nephew, Rusty Baban had similar interest, which turned into a friendship that lasted a lifetime. Fishing, hunting, classic car clubs, boat racing, and speed skating, were among his favorite pastimes.
After high school he owned and operated a filling station on Parker Drive that he named Claude’s Gulf, where he kept coffee and donuts for the police officers and firefighters there, an activity he did even in his later years right up to just weeks before his passing. In the early 1960’s, Sonny began his 37-year career at Janesville Cotton Mills, later known as Janesville Products.
He designed and facilitated the set-up of several new plants in Janesville, WI; Old Fort, NC; Burns Flat, OK; Mexico; Norwalk, OH; and Newcomers Town, OH. Sonny was respected for his work ethic, knowledge, and caring spirit by all who knew him. In 1987, the family moved to Marion, NC where he finished the set-up of a new plant in Old Fort, NC and was the plant manager.
A few years later, he chose to retire up in the mountains of Bakersville, NC. It was there that he found he had more enjoyment feeding, watching, and photographing all the wildlife than he had while hunting it in his younger years. Sonny loved the deer, turkeys and other wildlife that came to spend their mornings eating with him, which soon became a daily routine.
He is survived by his sister, Mary Baban Ramsdell of Janesville WI; son Daniel Bartle of Janesville, WI; daughter Shannon (Carolyn Cimerro) Bartle of Durham, NC; stepdaughter Vickie (Roger Vaade) Wanek of Janesville, WI; grandchildren: Jayson (Anna) Bartle, of Prairie Wi Du Sac, WI; Justin (Shelby) Bartle of Edgerton, WI; Jesse and Josh Linhart of Reedsburg, WI; great-grandchildren: Logan, Calvin, and Mason Bartle; and Emma and Avery Linhart. Sonny treasured a special bond with his nephew and buddy, Rusty Baban.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Marilyn; both parents; sister, Joyce Ann; brother, Donald; stepdaughter, Cindy Thompson and daughter-in-law Julie Bartle.
Many thanks to his dear friends Randy and Sandy Parkhurst of Orfordville, WI and his friends on the mountain who took such good care of him: Freddie Owenby, Jim and Barb Stoltman, Rosie Howell, Larry and Lisa Tempelton, Randy Wyss, Dean Ward and family and Sheriff Donald Street.
Thanks also to the Bakersville Community Center members, all the county EMS Employees and many others.
There will be a joint burial service held at Milton Lawns Cemetery in Janesville, WI on January 19th at 10am for both Sonny and his wife Marilyn, a former Janesville resident who he kept with him ever since illness took her life in 2018. A Celebration of Life for both will follow from 12pm to 4pm at the Janesville VFW. At a date to be determined, a Celebration of Life will also be held for all his many friends from the Old Fort, Marion and Bakersville areas at the Bakersville Community Center.