Charley “Bud” Doolittle left us on February 17, 2024 from a long illness. He was 66. Bud was born in Ohio to Charley and Linda Doolittle and lived a full and vibrant life from beginning to end and touched the lives of many people along the way.
His family moved often for his fathers construction work living in Ohio, Alabama, Florida and Washington state. He loved spending time in Florida with his paternal grandparents and traveling the country on his motorcycle to visit family and friends.
Bud was a crane operator, boat captain, dive instructor and pilot. He owned West Coast Dive and Salvage in Anacortes, Washington for 10 years working on his boat “Charley.” In later years he stayed with crane operating which took him to Haiti, Jamaica, Panama, Hawaii, Alaska and the lower 48 states. Most of his crane work was in Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, the Aleutian Islands and the Arctic. His work included the Tacoma Narrows Bridge, Lummi Stadium, T-Mobile Park, Kenai River bridge, Green River bridge and many other projects.
Bud was known for his wisdom, generosity and sense of humor. His story telling captivated and entertained people for hours. He loved any type of water for fishing and boating. But his favorite pastime was spent with his kids, grandkids and his four dogs. They all brought a sparkle to his eyes and joy in his heart.
The most rewarding project he did was build his barn from the foundation up. He spent many hours in his barn either by himself or with family and friends and told many stories to keep all of us entertained.
Bud is survived by his wife of 25 years, Susan (Patch) Doolittle, his children Kecia Doolittle, Jacob Doolittle, Chelsey Doolittle, Jared Doolittle and Chad Patch; his mother Linda Zito (Charley), his brothers Chris Doolittle (Teresa), and Toby Doolittle (Tammy), his sister Cindy Gerstenberger (Mike), and stepbrother Robert Horsley (Dusty); his grandchildren Dylan Howson (Chelsey) and Hazel Doolittle (Jacob) and his four dogs Buddy, Oscar, Lucy and CJ.
He is proceeded in death by his sister Diana Rothenberger (Bart) and his father Charley Doolittle (Barb).
A public celebration of life will be held from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, July 13, 2024 at Lake Limerick Country Club, 790 E, Saint Andrews Drive, Shelton Washington.
In lieu of flowers, please make donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital either on-line or (800)805-5856.
