Chuck Echer

May 31, 1941 – June 12, 2012

Chuck passed away at home in Pollock Pines on June 12, 2012. Survived by his loving wife of 22 years, Davina Echer, daughter Andrea (Charles) Coakley and grandson, Tyler Coakley. Chuck began his fly tying career at the age of seven in 1948. He has been actively teaching Fly Fishing and fly tying classes and seminars since 1978 in the San Francisco Bay Area, Sacramento and Northern California. In three decades, he has literally taught thousands of students the art of fly tying and fly fishing. During his thirty plus years of public appearances, he has demonstrated his tying skills at both international and domestic venues, i.e., sports expositions, fly fishing clubs and appeared as a keynote speaker at many prestigious club events from coast to coast. Chuck was the 1993 recipient of the FFF Buz Buszek memorial fly tying award. He was inducted into the NCCFFF Fly Fishing Hall of Fame in February 2009 for his lifetime Fly Fishing contributions. Chuck has also set two IGFA fly rod line class world records set in 1990 and 1991. Chuck has fly-fished Alaska, New England, Canada, western United States, Mexico, Belize, Costa Rica and England. He is a fly tying veteran for freshwater as well as saltwater. He predominately tied trout flies but enjoyed tying everything from midges to sailfish flies.

Chuck graduated from Oklahoma State Univ. in 1963 and started his metallurgical science career in Albuquerque, NM, onto Columbus, OH, then to Livermore, CA in 1968. He finished his 34 year career at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as an analytical electron microscopist.

A Celebration of Chuck’s life will be held on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 11:00 am at Chapel of the Pines Funeral Home, 2855 Cold Springs Rd., Placerville. A visitation will be held at the Funeral Home on Monday from 4 to 8 pm. Interment will follow services at Westwood Hills Memorial Park, Placerville. Friends may sign an electronic guestbook and leave condolences at www.chapelofthepinesfunerals.com. Contributions in Chuck’s name may be made to the Northern California Council Federation of Fly Fishers.