Chuck Carey

[Marty Loken (Norseboater)]

It's 9 a.m. Monday and I just received a call from Greg Silcox, letting me know that our long-time friend Chuck Carey had died. Greg had just received a text message from Chuck's son, Dan.

All of us hoped, of course, that Chuck would fully recover from the bypass surgery and be on the water again by this summer--enthusiastic as always, generous in offering help to others, and eagerly looking forward to more adventures.

We first met Chuck almost 20 years ago, when we restored his derelict 14' Davis Boat….the first of several watercraft we worked on for our good buddy Chuck, who was one of the earliest and most enthusiastic members of the old Classic Skagit Boat Club, which became Fiberglassics Northwest and later morphed into the group we all know today, the Northwest Classic Boat Club.

I don't know what else to say, at least right now, except that this is terrible news. We deeply mourn Chuck's loss, and extend heartfelt sympathies to Sheila and the rest of Chuck's family…and his many friends.

- Marty

[Steve_Kiesel]

This is shocking and very sad news. Chuck is going to be missed. What a great guy. My sympathies go out to Chucks family.

[Helmar]

I am beside myself and don't know what to say................
What a loss to everyone. Chuck was one of the most caring wonderful people that I have known.
I am lost for words but Chuck, you will be with me always and of course on ever boating event I am on.........

[Karl]

Chuck always make me feel welcome. I am heartbroken for both of his families (personal and boating).

[bruceb]

This is very sad news. He was a great boating friend and we felt close to the family. Sheila and Vicki always look forward to spending time at La Conner. And it's always been fun boating with Chuck and Daniel.
We've all lost a fine friend and an enthusiastic fiberglass boat restorer. This is tough.
Chuck's family are in our thoughts and prayers.
bruceb

[GregS]

Good afternoon folks. It has been a long time since I was here. Today is a sad day as you all have heard. Chuck's son, Dan Carey, sent me a message on Facebook this morning informing me of Chuck's passing. Later on Dan gave me some more details. The following is our conversation:



6:05am




Dan Carey



Greg,
My Dad died this morning.

Dan




.

...




Greg Silcox


9:00am




Greg Silcox



Oh Dan this is so shocking and sad. Please know that I have always held your dad in the highest regard. I am sorry for the family's loss. Please keep me updated as to when the memorial will be.




.

...




Dan Carey


9:12am




Dan Carey



Greg, thanks, I will let you know.




.

...




Greg Silcox


9:35am




Greg Silcox



Let me know when it will be okay to check in on your mom. When you can, can you let me know what happened? I talked to him a few days ago and he seemed to be doing better.




.

...




Dan Carey


10:53am




Dan Carey



Greg, I'll find that you for you when you can check on my Mom. Last night Mom said he was doing really poorly. As for exactly what happened last night, I am not fully certain on the details. I got a call at 11 or 12 that he had gone to the ER. At 3:30 AM I got another call to hurry to the ER. When I arrived soon after he had died. I guess he had a problem with his aneurysm; they operated on it but in the end his heart was not strong enough and he died, a little before I got there.

[Kelly]

I can't even collect my thoughts right now.


I'll miss you Chuck.

[Skagit Hideaway]

So sad. Sorry I never got to know him.

[jaxbot]

At my first outing with NWCBC (Alder Lake 2009) it was Chuck that made us feel welcome as new members. It was always a pleasure to see him at the outings. A man that truly enjoyed his hobby. He will be greatly missed. Prayers go out to Chuck's family for comfort, peace, and understanding.

[bham-rick]

I also have not been on the site for along time but when I got the news this morning from Clint I was heart broken. What a loss !! Chuck and Sheila were real friends and I will miss his calls Chuck was one of the first people we met when we started boating and was a real gentleman - he came over and introduced himself to us and we were friends from that day on . Chuck I will miss you and God bless Sheila and and the Family . I will post more later as I have a few pictures of Chucks legacy !! What a loss to the Fiberglass Boating Family - Chuck I will miss you !

[GregJ]

I saw Chuck on last Thursday at the mail box in front of my house (we were neighbors) last Thursday. He was weak, had lost some weight but in good spirits as usual. Chuck sold me the first boat he restored 18 years ago and I still own it. I have many great memories of Chuck and I out on the water together. I will miss him as a boating partner and a close friend. He always made me laugh.

[DMCI]

Re: Chuck and a few other things.

Having been in precisely the same spot the Chuck was in the other day, I will say that if you have to go, doing it on the operating table with numerous specialists in attendance is about the easiest there is. In fact waking up after major surgery is really hard. And generally after having your chest brutalized you don't want to do anything else but just lay there and sleep. The first thing they do (surgeons) is come in to your room and tell you to get out of bed and stand up. The thing going through your mind is "are you kidding me?" But I think they must want you to rearrange your internal organs. But they have you in such a deep sleep, that if you don't wake up you never know it. Then there's the nurses that want to come in every hour to poke or prod you with needles and other stuff. I found by experience that if you pretend to be asleep they will leave you alone a little longer. You have to give them a break though and pretend not to be asleep occasionally.

Okay, that's enough of that stuff!

Chuck was one of those people as we all know that you couldn't help but like. It would go out of his way to help you and if you demonstrated a sincere interest in his hobby, he almost overwhelmed you with his help and enthusiasm.

Those of you that think I look a little silly dragging my big Nikon around all the time, will see the benefit of it shortly.

The picture below is my favorite of Chuck and his son standing on the dock at the south end of Lake Washington. I was supposed to ride up with Greg to Ivar's. I couldn't find Greg but there was Chuck who immediately offered me a ride. So I rode up a Chuck and back with Greg.

When you write something like this it is never easy. It's almost like a eulogy which supposed to be a celebration of the persons life. But I thought if I put enough pictures of Chuck and his boat that would almost be covered. I very much enjoyed my brief acquaintance with Chuck and learned a lot. As others have said he will be missed. I think in retrospect the best thing we can do is to work hard to make his club a success. This will be pretty straightforward if we can just get some decent weather.

[TheBronze]

Very saddened by this news. I had the pleasure of meeting Chuck on a few occasions over the last couple of years and really enjoyed his enthusiasm for boating and his generally great attitude. Was looking forward to paying him a visit in the next week or so assuming he was more recovered. Prayers go out to Sheila and family.

[Super Sportster]

Sad news indeed, never met Chuck personally but through this forum I felt I knew him. Totally enjoyed reading about and seeing the progress of all his work and the final products he produced. Not just satisfied with a finished project, the real satisfaction seemed to be moving on to the next boat. RIP Chuck

[61_express]

Thoughts and prayers are with his family, he will be missed. I only wish I had the opportunity to have met him. Rest In Peace.