- Date Of Birth: October 23, 1942
- Date Of Death: August 12, 2022
- State: Michigan
Chuck Yager was a man of few words, but a big heart. Unfortunately, complications from Alzheimer’s and vascular dementia have robbed us of the kind and generous man he was.
He started life as a “military brat”, traveled the world, and thought this would be the path of his professional life. After graduating from the University of Portland with involvement in ROTC, his first duty assignment was the University of Michigan for a master’s degree focused on computer engineering. Next, he was stationed at the Pentagon, followed by Osan, Korea, and Wright-Patterson AFB.
At the University of Michigan he met and later married his wife Carol. By the time he left for the unaccompanied tour in Korea, he was the happy dad of a baby boy. The separation convinced him he wasn’t cut out for a job that moved him around and separated him from his family.
After leaving the military he went to work for Upjohn in the IT department. As his job grew, so did his family as he now had two young sons and a little girl. He was happy because he finally had stable roots.
While Chuck was content with his job, he longed to give back to Kalamazoo, the city that had provided him roots. After retirement he fulfilled his wish and became active in AmeriCorp, Habitat for Humanity, InterAct, Migrant Ministry, and AARP Tax Aide. In his free time he loved to chase the elusive hole-in-one on the golf course. While the hole-in-one ultimately evaded him, he spent many happy hours with his buddies on the courses pursuing the shot!
Chuck’s family and his spiritual life were the center of his life. He was so proud of his son Chip and his wife Denise, his son Tobin and his wife Kathy, and his daughter Amanda and her husband Dan. Between the three families, he was able to boast of his seven grandsons – Zach, Nolan, Cal, Wyatt, Colin, Alex, and Nathan.
