Charles Wiltse

3/7/1933 — 1/30/2017

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With family at his side, Charles "Chuck" Wiltse died at his home Monday, Jan. 30, 2017. Chuck was a lifelong hard worker who shared his talents and skills with his family, friends and community. In recent years, he battled open heart surgery, kidney failure and dialysis, auto-immune hemolytic anemia, and chronic congestive heart failure - conditions that slowly but cumulatively diminished his life and brought it to a close.

Chuck was born March 7, 1933, in Central Point, Ore., to Charles William and Matilda Mae "Tillie" (Rutzer) Wiltse. Soon after Chuck's birth, the family moved to Washington, first to Kettle Falls, where Chuck's brother Bob was born, and then to Hunters, to the Wiltse family farm. When Chuck was in the fifth grade, the family moved to Inchelium, where his dad worked as head welder at the lumber company forge. Chuck remembered going to work with his dad and believed the incessant trip hammer noise initiated his hearing loss. When Chuck's parents divorced, Chuck's mother and the boys moved back to Hunters, where sister Jeanie was born. Chuck attended seventh and eighth grades at Fruitland Elementary, where Chuck's mother was the school cook. When she subsequently married farmer/rancher Henry Mattison, the family moved to the Mattison family farm. Chuck and Bob would recall many memories of farm chores, especially of milking the cows.

Chuck attended Columbia High School in Hunters, worked for local farmers during summers and graduated in 1951. He earned athletic letters in football, basketball, baseball, boxing and track, and was elected student body president his senior year. After high school, he worked for a Spokane construction company, and then for the U.S. government at Fairchild Air Force Base, upgrading airstrips for B-36 bombers. During this time, Chuck married Arlene Atkinson.

In 1952, Chuck enlisted in the U.S. Navy and spent 33 months aboard the USS Nemasket out of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, as a navigational petty officer, followed by 15 months assignment on Adak, Alaska, as a security officer of all shipping and aircraft activities in the Command 17 region of Alaska. During his Navy service, he and Arlene became parents to daughter Deborah Diane "Deb" and son Charles Joseph "Joe." Following his 1956 discharge, Chuck took advantage of the GI Bill, moved his family to Spokane and enrolled in Eastern Washington University at Cheney. He supplemented his GI Bill income by driving a bus for the Cheney School District during school years and working for Pendleton, Ore., wheat farmers during summers. Son Paul Henry was born during the family's time in Spokane. In 1960, Chuck graduated with a bachelor of arts in education, his teaching major in vocational education and his teaching minor in business.

Chuck and family returned to Hunters for his first teaching job at Hunters High School. Initially hired to teach vocational and business classes, he soon added duties of high school principal, junior high basketball coach and high school girls' basketball and boys' football coach. While in Hunters, he designed and built a house for his family, and also helped the community organize an ambulance-like service to drive critically injured residents to the distant hospital. In summers he attended graduate school at Cheney, earning his master's degree in administration with a basic superintendent's credential. Chuck became an active member of the Greenwood Park Grange and 50 years later was given an honorary life membership. Though he was an administrator of the school district, the Stevens County Education Association named him their 1966 Educator-Citizen. During these years, daughter Cheryl Constance was born. Chuck also was privileged to sign his brother Bob's general education diploma certificate. In 1967, Chuck and Arlene divorced.

In the fall of 1967, Chuck became a vice principal at Cascade High School in Turner, Ore., where he also taught a vocational class. After two years at Cascade, Chuck was hired as principal/superintendent of Camas Valley School District in Camas Valley, Ore., additionally serving as assistant coach for high school boys' football and basketball. Son Joe lived with Chuck at Camas Valley for his junior and senior years of high school and was a 1971 Camas Valley High graduate. In 1971, the Camas Valley Lettermen's Club and the girls' volleyball team awarded Chuck their outstanding and dedicated service plaques. In December 1970, he married Myrna Duncan Wisenor, a teacher at Camas Valley High, and became stepfather to Myrna's twins, Mitchell and Michelle. During summers, he attended the University of Oregon, obtaining his standard Oregon superintendent credential and standard Oregon secondary principal credential.

In 1972, Chuck and family moved to McMinnville, Ore., where he became superintendent of Amity School District at Amity, Ore., for five years. Additionally, he began many years of service to the Oregon Schools Activities Association (OSAA) to help ensure equitable competition for Oregon high school students in OSAA-sponsored events, later serving on the executive board from 1987-90. The Oregon Vocational Association made him an honorary life member in 1979, and the Oregon Vocational/Technical Education Committee awarded him its state honor in 1980. He was an active member of the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators (COSA) for years, helping to develop and support leaders to ensure student success.

The most challenging time of his career came in 1977, when he became superintendent of schools for Baker City, Ore. The school district was in a deficit financial position, teacher negotiations had failed and the community was agonizingly split. The school board directed Chuck to lead the opposition to what became at the time Oregon's longest teacher strike. By the end of the school year, he had returned the school district to an end-of-year budget surplus and kept the district on a level academic foundation. In the following years, he continually endeavored to keep the district's affairs on sound programs. He earned the trust and respect of many, but could never fully achieve the elimination of lingering animosity in the school and community. Son Paul lived with the family that first year in Baker for his senior year of high school, becoming a 1978 Baker High graduate. Mitch and Michelle were 1979 Baker High graduates.

During his years in Baker City, Chuck served on both the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) board and the Oregon Court Appointed Citizen Review Board (CRB) to advocate for vulnerable children in the court system. His selection as 1995 CRB Volunteer of the Year was signed by the chief justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. He later served as the CRB state advisory council chairman from 1995-96. For many years he served on the handicapped council of Eastern Oregon Region 1 to help provide direction for services to visually handicapped, hearing impaired, autistic and orthopedically handicapped children of northeastern Oregon. He served from 1977 to 2003 as an administrative board member of the Baker Mountain Valley Mental Health Board, working for comprehensive mental health services for schoolchildren and the community.

As an active member of Baker Lions Club, Chuck worked on many activities and projects. Unique among them were turning a wrecked travel trailer into a Lions Club hot dog/hamburger wagon and converting a flatbed trailer into a multi-cooking grill unit for Lions Club cookouts. The Lions named him their Helen Keller Benefactor recipient in 2001. Chuck served as a director on the Baker County Chamber of Commerce from 1979-81, was named the 1997 Legacy Man of the Year by the chamber, and then named grand marshal of the Miner's Jubilee Parade in July 1998. Though not a Shriner, Chuck volunteered for years as ticket chairman for the Shriner's East-West football game, overseeing the advance ticket sales and steadfastly upholding the Shriner's tradition of reserving favorite seating tickets for longtime supporters and offering remaining tickets to the public. He supported and assisted community organizations in hosting the district basketball tournaments and Oregon state basketball tournaments.

In the winter of 1989, Baker High School was more than half destroyed by fire, dealing a stunning blow to the community. Chuck led the effort of the school board and his fellow administrators in arranging replacement classrooms in only three weeks, then worked for two years with architects to design a rebuild of the burned-out section to coordinate and integrate with the saved section of the high school. When Chuck retired in 1991, the Baker School District recognized him for his untiring efforts, loyalty, friendship and performance of 14 years service to the district. In June 1993, the Professional Technical Region No. 17 serving Baker, Grant, Union and Wallowa counties of Oregon, along with the Union Educational Service District, recognized him for a lifetime of leadership dedicated to vocational education.

Following his 1991 retirement, Chuck served as interim superintendent at Pine Eagle School District for two school years, and then as interim superintendent at Burnt River School District for a partial year. Myrna retired in 1999, and in 2003 they moved to Clarkston, where they bought property with a view of the Snake River. They lived in their motor home while their house was built from his detailed plans, giving considerable personal labor and effort to help complete it.

In retirement, he used his large sheds at Baker City and Clarkston to design, organize and craft all manner of woodworking and automotive projects. He remodeled interiors and exteriors of homes, designed and built outdoor decks and lawn irrigation systems, employed his Kubota tractor for special work, rototilled garden areas, designed and made furniture and loved every challenge of a new project. He and friend Bruce Raffety built specialty mailbox units for a local post office; he and friend Glenn Timm built bookshelves for the regional library and fully remodeled the interior of an old Victorian house; he and brother-in-law Dick Baker built unique furniture for the Baker's Clearwater River cabin and combined parts from two wrecked boats to build a jet boat to use on the Snake River.

Chuck loved to play cribbage and card games with family and friends, drive his golf cart and Toro lawnmower and eat ice cream for dessert. He experienced unique trips by car, river raft, pickup/camper, motor home, airline, cruise ship and river ship, marveling at attractions throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, England, Scotland, Netherlands, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Hungary, Austria, Australia and New Zealand. He and Myrna hosted two unique joint-family reunions - the first with all children and grandchildren present in late December 2001 at Cancun, Mexico, and the second with all children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren present over New Year's holiday 2015-16 at Clarkston. When family gathered toward the end of Chuck's life, countless memories were recalled of special times he had with his family, his friends and his community.

Chuck is survived by Myrna, his wife of 46 years; children Deborah (Trevor) Neve, Charles "Joe" (Hollie) Wiltse, Paul (Marcella) Wiltse and Cheryl (Karl) Kohne; stepchildren Mitch (Shelley) Wisenor and Michelle (Don) Smith; grandson Charles Ross "Charlie" Wiltse; stepgrandchildren Brittany (Stuart) Willmann, Courtney (Steve) Burgess, Bradon Smith and Conner Smith; stepgreat-grandchildren Owen, Jaxson and Addylan Willmann; brother Robert "Bob" (Nancy) Wiltse; half-brothers Lynn Wiltse, Wayne Wiltse and Everett (Ginger) Wiltse; nephew Mark (Glenda) Carpenter; and a host of other relatives. He also is survived by his first wife, Arlene, mother of his four children. Chuck was preceded in death by his father, mother, sister and niece.

Cremation has taken place under the direction of Malcom's Brower-Wann Funeral Home. Inurnment at Asotin Cemetery is being planned for Labor Day weekend. Memorial donations may be made to community service organizations.

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