Obituary

Charles Fields

December 9, 1914 - March 21, 2017

Charlie was born and raised in Yelm Wa., the only one of 4 brothers to graduate from high school. He moved to Vale Or. in 1933 where he met the love of his life, Vi Nelson, and they were married in 1935 with sons Wes and Dave to follow in 1936 and 1948. He was a professional mechanic his whole life and owned and operated Service Center garage before selling it and going to work for the BLM when they opened the Vale district. He was the lone mechanic for a number of years but retired as shop foreman with a crew of six maintaining a wide variety of rolling stock from pickups to grain drills to caterpillars with scrapers. He had the reputation as the guy who could fix just about anything be it mechanical, electrical, or made out of wood.
When he retired he took up woodworking and spent the best part of the next 30 years working in his basement workshop creating beautiful things for friends and family. Examples of his handiwork are scattered all over the Northwest and are a constant reminder of him and his impact on our lives. From plowing a field to helping build a house he was always ready to lend a hand where one was needed.
He was an avid outdoorsman and one of the great disappointments of his life was not being able to go out on the ocean fishing without getting seasick and he tried every remedy known to man with no success. Salmon fishing off of the dock at Whidbey Island did make up for a little bit of that disappointment though, he really enjoyed the trips up there.
He will be missed but it was a life well lived.

Name: Charles Fields
Date of Birth: 12/09/1914
Date of Death: 03/21/2017
Place of Birth: Yelm, Wa
Place of Death: Ontario, Or