Charles Richard Boulle

guy whistling a happy tune. He brightened our lives with his upbeat, sweet, perfectly

pitched, virtuosic whistling. Our hope is that as you read through these words you can

hear his happy melodies.

In reflecting on his life, one can see that he strove to create, improve, or fix what

needed help or changing all while looking for the fun and adventure along the way.

Charles Richard Boulle, the youngest child of Robert F. and Marguerite I. Boulle, was

born in Caledonia, NY, on September 18, 1932.

Known as Dickie Boulleʼ as a child, he was an adventuresome, athletic kid. He grew up

in the small town of Geneseo, N.Y., and around Conesus Lake. He was an alter boy in

the Roman Catholic Church, and having a sweet, high voice he sang at special

occasions in the church. He was a Cub Scout, and described himself as running free

and wild in the woods in upstate NY.

As a teen, he moved with his family to the city of Rochester, NY. At West High School,

he excelled in track as a pole vaulter and high hurdler. Disenchanted with school he

joined the Navy Reserves at age 17, and he was on active duty from 1952 to 1954. He

served on the USS Coral Sea as an Electrician’s Mate.

During his time in the Navy, he realized that he wanted to earn his college degree and

to continue the adventure of travel. He lived with his father, Robert, upon returning to

Rochester, where he worked for the Rochester Telephone Company. He attended

Rochester Institute of Technology night school to begin attaining his goal of a degree.

One cold day, his friends convinced him to go ice skating, and he met Kathleen who

happened to be there with friends from nursing school. After asking her if she needed

some help skating, they began a beautiful journey together, and they were married on

May 30, 1956. Their daughter Kam was born in Rochester, NY.

The family of three moved Angola,Indiana in June of 1959, so that Dick could continue

his studies for his Electrical Engineering degree at Tri-State University. While living in

married housing, the couple had a second daughter, Annette.

Upon Dickʼs graduation in 1961 the family moved to Florida where he started his career

as a design engineer with a focus in celestial and inertial navigation systems. No doubt

his intellect and inquisitive mind helped propel him into projects that shaped many of the

aerospace and robotics advances still in use today. During the time in Florida,

daughters Courtney and Kelly were born.

Living in Florida reignited his passion for sailing and led to ownership of a one design

Thistle sailboat. He taught many youngsters, including his daughters, to sail Optimus

Prams in Dunedin. These adventures and experiences are still put to use by his sailing

daughters, nephews and nieces.

His community involvement included designing and implementing a passive solar

heating system to a community pool, being instrumental in the construction of Dunedin’s

new swimming pool, and serving on a review board investigating why students dropped

out of high school.

Always ready for the next endeavor, Dick, Kathy and the girls started a journey that

heightened his career and led to many moves about the country. His career took him to

Northrup in California, Martin Marietta in Georgia, Lockheed in New Mexico and

Oklahoma, Honeywell in Florida, MacDonald Douglas in Phoenix, Boeing in

Philadelphia, and NASA in Alabama. During those cross country moves, the family

explored, learned and had fun together. In those years, he found the time to teach his

four daughters to dance, sail, skate, ski, swim, skip, climb trees, swing wildly on a rope

swing, change a tire, fix a motor, mow a lawn, handle tools, and instilled in them a

desire to care for others while they chased their dreams.

In 1980, the call of the Colorado mountains brought yet another move for Dick and

Kathy. Dick continued with his entrepreneurial business, Vector Instruments, but as time

passed, both he and Kathy felt the desire to buy a piece of land and build their own

house. The dream was realized in Westcliffe, CO. The two of them designed and built a

beautiful and quality adobe-style home; all by themselves. Dick and Kathy spent 30

years surrounded by the stunning views of the Sangre de Cristoʼs.

While living in Westcliffe, Dick used his ever curious mind to conduct research, to

become very accomplished at glass etching, to volunteer in many capacities, to play the

flute, to ski and play golf until reaching his 8th decade.

As well, he became a father-in-law and a 7 times grandfather. He relished those new

roles and loved his larger family deeply.

Two years ago, Dick and Kathy left their cherished home to start a new life in Loveland

as the physical challenges of living at 9,000 ft became too demanding. Sadly, Dickʼs

struggle with Parkinsonʼs Syndrome became too much for his body, and he left us on

September 30th to join the universe beyond.

We will miss him everyday, but we will keep him in our hearts, and we will always hear

his sweet melodies.

Dick wished to be cremated. As a tribute to him, a portion of his ashes will be

released near the places he loved, and a very small portion of his ashes will be sent into

the Earthʼs orbit sometime during the first quarter of 2023 to circle the planet for a

decade or so. When that orbit disintegrates he will appear as a shooting star as it

returns toward earth.

Charles Richard Boulleʼ is survived by his wife, Kathleen R. Boulleʼ. He and Kathy

were married for 65 years and 4 months. He is also survived by his daughter Kamella

Boulleʼ and her partner Ross Mahon; his daughter Annette Gafner and her husband

Barry and their sons Connor and Logan; his daughter Courtney Boulleʼ and her

husband Dave Newman and their daughters Alia and Corryn; his daughter Kelly Tourek

and her husband Kevin and their sons Ben, Sawyer, and Aiden.

In lieu of flowers, the family ask that you consider a donation to:

Pathways Hospice Pathways - Northern Colorado's Preferred Hospice ...https://

pathways-care.org

Break Through https://timetobreakthrough.org