Charlotte, 93, was born in her grandparents’ farm house in Dore, ND and grew up in Sidney, MT. She met the love of her life, Gene, in Bozeman, MT where they both attended Montana State College. After their marriage in 1950 and Gene’s graduation in 1951, Gene’s military recall led to their move to California where their first child, Jim, was born. Further military assignments resulted in Char and Jim’s joining Gene in Tokyo, Japan. After they returned from their life-influencing Japan residence, they lived, worked and expanded their family in Billings, MT. They moved to Lander, WY in 1960.
Char started nursing training at Montana State College and received training at Havre, Great Falls and Bozeman, MT. She returned to college at Central Wyoming College and the University of Wyoming after raising 5 children and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Literature at age 52. In Lander, Char started her literary career as a writer of newspaper columns and feature articles for several Wyoming and Montana newspapers including the Billings Gazette, Wyoming State Journal, the Casper Star Tribune and The (Thermopolis) Independent Record. For a portion of the 30 years Char worked in journalism she worked as the editor of the Wyoming State Journal “People” section. She won various state and national awards for her writing.
Most recently she wrote and published Lester Callaway Hunt: He Put Wyoming’s Bucking Horse On the Map – a biography of Wyoming’s Secretary of State, Governor and Senator during the 1940’s and 1950’s.
Char loved designing and sewing quilts, writing, researching new topics, making pottery, travelling the world with Gene and spending time with her family and friends.
Char died peacefully in her sleep October 20, 2023.
Char was predeceased by one brother and a grandson. She is survived by her husband, Gene of 73 years, children Jim (Pat), Lon (Jantz), Bruce (Kulvinder), Gail (Norm) and Kelly (Connie), ten grandchildren and eleven great grandchildren and three brothers.
A Celebration of Life will be held Thursday, October 26th at Trinity Episcopal Church, 860 S. Third, Lander, WY at 11:00 am. The service will be livestreamed at TrinityLander.org.
In lieu of flowers the family requests donations be sent to Chapter Q, P.E.O. General Scholarship Fund at 405 N 3rd St, Lander, WY 82520 or to the Trinity Memorial Foundation at 860 S 3rd St, Lander, WY 82520.