Charles M. Travers, 91, of Tatla Lake, peacefully passed away on Sept. 9, 2023.

Charles was born on Sept. 12, 1931, to Charles and Myrtle Travers in Hoquiam, Washington, USA. After he graduated from Elma High School in 1949, he studied at Northwest Bible College for 2 years.

In 1946, Charles met Ruth Robinson when they were sophomores in Elma High School. They married on July 17, 1953. They had 2 children, Charlene Marie Travers and Carolyn Travers Knoebel.

From 1953 thru 1957, Charles served as a Survival Instructor in the U.S. Air Force which he excelled and enjoyed very much.

He studied Forest Timber Pathology at the University of Montana, School of Forestry, on the GI bill and was awarded a National Defense Fellowship. He competed in Forestry Competitions and was Bull of the Woods twice. He went on to the University of Idaho to pursue his studies in Forestry and taught there briefly.

During his University years, he worked as a seasonal Park Ranger in Olympic National Park, Washington and then McKinley (now Denali) National Park, Alaska respectively.

When Charles learned that teachers in Alaska earned a far better salary than professors did, the adventure bug bit him again. He dropped out of the PhD program and the family moved to Alaska where they got their teaching degrees in at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Their first assignment was in Anvik, Alaska in a two teacher school. They also taught in Shungnak, Point Hope, New Stuyahok, Twin Hills and Cantwell Alaska. He kept busy during the summer with numerous ventures such as a land surveyor on what was to eventually be the Parks Highway.

Charles retired in 1982. He and Ruth moved to his dream ranch in British Columbia, Canada. He loved this place more than anywhere in the world. It is still a working ranch.

Charles had a wide assortment of interests and loved adventures which included mountain climbing, flying, travelling, bird watching, photography, hunting, fishing and wood working. He also wrote some pretty good poetry.

A celebration of life will be held on June 8, 2024 at the 7 Bar 7 Ranch.