Charles R. Powell, formerly from Santa Paula, Ca., passed away on February 24th from cancer.

Charlie was born and raised in Santa Paula where he attended Mupu grammar school and Santa Paula high school. He graduated top of his class in 1959. He loved tennis, basketball, card games, and swimming. After a year in college he went into the Army Reserve, upon returning to Santa Paula he was hired by the U.S. Postal Service, where he worked delivering mail for over 40 years.

During his life he met and married Donna Tucker and they had 3 sons. In 2001, she passed away and Charlie retired from the post office and moved to Las Vegas. While living there he got asked by one of his former students, now a head swim coach, to help coach swimming for the Sandpipers swim club in Vegas in 2002. Which he did and loved it.

In 2005, Santa Paula high school students decided to have a class reunion that year in Laughlin, Nevada. There he renewed an old friendship with Heidi Botts Taylor, and a year later they were married in Grass Valley, California. They were married to each other for over 19 years.

Charlie leaves behind his devoted wife Heidi, 3 sons, 1 stepson, 3 sisters; Dottie, Barbara and Sadie, 12 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren. Two of the great grandchildren were adopted by Charlie and Heidi 13 years ago.

Charlie was a wonderful, happy and loving husband, father, and grandfather and will be sadly missed forever.