William F. Charters

1920-2012

Bill passed away on April 9th at Sutter Lakeside Hospital. He was 91 years old. Bill was born on August 20th in Woodland, California. The third child and only son of Edward and Louise Charters. During the depression his dad worked many jobs to support his family and Bill always said he went to dine different grade schools during that time. He also attended Esparto High School and graduated in 1939.

In the fall of 1939 he joined the Marine Corps. Being small in stature he always joked that the recruiting officer had him stand on a phone book so he would make the height requirements. He served honorable for six years and was involved in many South Pacific conflicts. Bill was proud of being a veteran. He loved wearing his veteran’s hat and sharing his experiences with other veterans.

After the Marines he joined the Teamsters Union and went to work driving trucks for over 32 years. During that time he logged 2,400,000.00 miles. He was an active CB’er with the handle “Bull Shipper”. In 1946, Bill married Gertrude (Trudy) Galbreath nee Quenzer. They enjoyed many years together raising Trudy’s daughter, Evelyn and their son Wayne.

Bill retired from the Teamsters in 1976 and he and Trudy moved to Lake County. He worked various jobs in and around Clear Lake. In 1980 he went to work for Brown’s RV Center. During this time he met Zola Stutler and they were married in 1985. They retired in 1990 and enjoyed many years of traveling before Zola’s death in 2004.

Bill was a member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign War. He donated to many charitable organizations and he loved collecting coins.

Bill is survived by his son, Wayne and wife Angela; grandchildren, William and Dominique; step-daughter Evelyn Rodgers and grandchildren William, Jerry, Edward and Dawnella and their spouses; step-daughter Donna Dawson, her husband Bill and their children; niece, Doris Myers of Esparto and many other nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Trudy Charters and his second wife, Zola Charters as well as his sisters, Leona and her husband, Jack Doyle and Olive and her husband Glen Richardson. Bill, we will dearly miss you. You were loved very much by all of us.