Charles James MacGillivray

MACGILLIVRAY, Charles James Age 90, died unexpectedly on August 17, 2012 at his home in Carpinteria, CA. 'Chuck' was born on the family farm at Spirit River in northern Alberta Province, Canada. Shortly after the death of his parents while he was still a teenager, he moved to live with his Aunt Alice and Uncle "Mac" in Fresno, CA. Soon after graduation from Fresno High School in 1941 he enlisted in the Army Air Corps. During WWII he worked with ground crews servicing the planes as well as preparing/loading bombs onto the planes at Chelveston Air Base with the "Mighty 8th" Air Force in England. In later years he enjoyed attending many annual reunions of his "Can-DO" 305th Bomb Group. After the war, Chuck attended Fresno State College where he met his future wife Martha Marie Shaw. In 1950 they relocated to Carpinteria where they began their family of 3 children. He began his long career in retail hardware working at the popular Carpinteria Hardware Store, which then occupied the entire corner building where we now see the Wullbrandt Mural. In later years he worked with Austin's Home Center until his retirement in 2002. While in retirement Chuck began losing vision and thoroughly enjoyed the many activities and friendships provided at the Santa Barbara Braille institute. Chuck became the "poster" person for Braille through his regular attendance and helpfulness. He loved listening to the many books on audio tape provided by the Braille Library. He always appreciated the continuing friendships and visits with AFS students who had lived with our family . Chantra "Daeng" Jayanama from Thailand and Martin Gross from Switzerland. He is survived by his wife of 65 years Martha; daughter Jeanne Wood (Brent) in Hesperia, CA and son Charles "Scott" MacGillivray (Catherine) in Orange, CA ; sisters Edith Clark in Seattle, WA and Nancy Merkel in Modesto, CA; brother George MacGillivray (Ruth) in Alberta, Canada and 3 grandchildren: Carolyn Lohman, Curtis Wood (Mallory) and Daniel Wood. He was preceded in death by his oldest daughter, Susan MacGillivray Lohman; parents Winifred Humphries MacGillivray and James Stuart MacGillivray and a sister Elizabeth Kelly of Vancouver, BC, Canada. Memorial contributions may be made to the Braille Institute of Santa Barbara, CA or AFS International Student Exchange Program at 71 West 23rd Street, 6th Floor, New York, NY10010-4102 USA. Arrangements for a memorial service will be at a later date.