Charles E. Montgomery

Charles Montgomery, 93, passed away early Saturday March 1, 2014 at Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions in Casper, Wyoming.

Charles was born in Fort Scott, Kansas on November 14, 1920 to Peter Hurd Montgomery II and Mabel (Rose) Montgomery. He was the second of six children. At an early age the family moved to his grandfather's farm near Danville, Kansas where he spent most of his childhood and weathered the Great Depression. He attended a one room school and, for a lot of years, his schoolmates were his siblings. He worked on the farm milking cows, driving the tractor and doing chores. In his later years, he remembered fondly his years on the farm.

Charles graduated from Harper High School in Harper Kansas in 1938 and took vocational classes in woodworking. He worked at the Beech Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas as a woodworker assembling wings and finishing fuselages of airplanes.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor both he and his brother enlisted in the Army Air Corp. Because of an early interest in radios and knowledge of Morse Code, Charles was sent to Radio Operator school. He spent time training in Denver, Colorado where he met a young lady named Bertha May Sears, at a dance held for service men.

After completing training he shipped out to Africa. This trip included sailing to South America and then across the Atlantic Ocean to Africa. The ship was not well provisioned and before they reached Africa they were out of food. The ship eventually landed on the Gold Coast of Africa in what is known as Ghana.

In Africa, Charles did radio communications with airplanes flying men and supplies to the front in North Africa. He traveled from Ghana through Nigeria and Chad to Khartoum in Sudan and then on to Eritrea. He often talked of his adventures in Africa, with crocodiles, poisonous snakes and camels. He was excited when his son Bob went to Ethiopia for work in 1993.

Unfortunately, his brother Pete was killed during the war when the airplane he was piloting went down in the ocean near Hawaii. This was a tremendous blow to the family. In 1945, after returning from Africa, Charles returned to Denver, Colorado and soon thereafter married Bertha May Sears on July 24, 1945.

After his separation from the Army Air Corp in November of 1945, he returned to Denver and worked as a draftsman and ski maker until answering an advertisement for trained radio operators to work for the Civil Aeronautics Administration, later to become the Federal Aviation Administration. Charles began his career with the CAA in Denver and later transferred to Lyman, Wyoming to the Flight Service Station. While there, he and his wife adopted a son, Robert, in September of 1954. From there they moved to Arcata, California where they discovered they hated the constant 50 degree temperatures, fog, and rain in Northern California. They moved back to sunny Colorado, to Gypsum, where the family enjoyed the outdoors fishing, hunting, and other activities.

In 1959 they moved to Laramie, Wyoming and then to Casper, Wyoming. Charles was the Chief of the Flight Service Station in Casper (where pilots went to get weather briefings and file flight plans) until his retirement in 1973. He was fortunate to retire and be with his father as he succumbed to cancer. While in Casper, Charles and family enjoyed camping, hunting, fishing and other outdoor activities. Charles became a pilot in the early 1960's and the family took many flights in a Piper Tri-Pacer.

After retirement Charles kept busy by adding an addition to their house, working as an assistant to a surveyor and studying to be a locksmith. Through the years, he grew an outstanding garden, probably a throwback to his years on the farm. He and Bertha square danced for many years and after retirement they danced several times a week.

After retirement Charles and Bertha spent their winters in South Texas at a trailer park in Pharr. They chose this area because of the proximity to a square dance caller they enjoyed.

They quit going to Texas after it became apparent that Charles's dementia and Bertha's health would not allow them to commute to Texas. Charles and Bertha celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on July 24th 2005 just one day after the wedding of their son Robert to Barbara Bentzin in Breckenridge, Colorado.

Charles still planted the garden and continued to live at home until Bertha fell in 2010 and they moved to assisted living at Park Place in Casper. During Charles's final years he and Bertha acted as a team to accomplish their tasks. He was the muscle and she was the brains.

In the end Charles's dementia required that he be hospitalized. When it became apparent that he didn't have much time left he was moved to Hospice care, where he passed peacefully.

Charles was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Pete and his sister Gwen.

He is survived by his wife Bertha, son Robert and his wife Barbara, sisters Betty, Georgia and Doris and many nieces and nephews.

At his request there will be no services. Charles has been cremated and a portion of his ashes will be interred at the Oregon Trial Veterans Cemetery and a portion scattered on Casper Mountain at a later date.

In lieu of flowers please make donations to Wyoming Dementia Care www.ACaringHome.org, Central Wyoming Hospice and Transitions www.cwhp.org or a charity of your choice.

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