Charles "Chipper" Chatfield

Charles “Chipper” Chatfield was born December 5, 1922. At age 92 he continues to be very active on the ranch he was born and raised on west of Sundance. He was the youngest son of E.B. “Eddie” and Berenice (Belshe) Chatfield.

Chipper gained his love of horses, especially driving teams, from his father Eddie. Chipper tells stories of his father delivering coal, mined from the ranch, to the households in Sundance. He would leave with a team and wagon full of coal early morning in the dark and return in the dark all winter long. He would earn enough money to operate the ranch the next summer.

Chipper attended country school, then went into Sundance to graduate from High School. After graduating, he continued to help his father run the ranch. He married Margery Graham in 1944. They had three children, Eva, Ed, and Nancy. Chipper and his family raised Hereford cattle, Rambouillet sheep, and put up a lot of hay. He was very active in the community as a 4-H leader, school board member and FSA board member.

His son Ed operates the ranch now, but Chipper is still a very active part of it. He is at the ranch every day working. He feeds cake to the calves, hay to the cows, still repairs fences and helps put up the hay.