Rev. Charles Oran Krahenbuhl

Charles Oran Krahenbuhl, a resident of Gilroy for 65 years, died in Santa Clara on July 19, 2025, after a long journey with dementia. He was 89.

Rev. Krahenbuhl was born Charles Oran Brooks, Jr., in his grandfather's hard-rock mining shack in Ahwanee, Madera County, California. After his father, Charles Sr., died in a highway accident, Charles' mother Edna married Erwin Krahenbuhl of Bern, Switzerland, who adopted Charles at age 5. Charles grew up in Dos Rios and in Tehama, California. In high school he excelled in music, and was a statewide award-winning public speaker. At the College (later University) of the Pacific in Stockton, he met Janice Ruth Laughlin, whom he married in 1956. He earned a Master of Divinity degree at Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jersey, and was ordained an elder in the Methodist (later United Methodist) Church. Rev. Krahenbuhl pastored congregations in Metuchen and Lake Hopatcong, NJ; Topeka, KS; Marina, CA; and finally in Gilroy, where he lived for the rest of his life before his final illness. In 1970 he began teaching in the Gilroy Unified School District, where he remained for over two decades. He practiced for many years as a licensed Marriage and Family therapist.

Rev. Krahenbuhl was active in Gilroy Community Theatre, memorably as Benjamin Franklin in the musical 1776, a role he performed during the Bicentennial and reprised thirty years later for GCT's successor, South Valley Civic Theatre. He was an avid gardener and enjoyed music, painting, writing, history, and genealogy. He was a proud sponsor of Town Cats of Morgan Hill.

Rev. Krahenbuhl was preceded in death by his wife of 62 years, Janice, in 2018. He is survived by his sons and daughters-in-law, Lee Krähenbühl and Nancy Smith of Silver Spring, MD, and Jon Krahenbuhl and Kathleen Morelock of San Jose; granddaughter Brooks Krahenbuhl Eisenbise of Chicago; grandson Logan Krahenbuhl of Quincy, CA; nieces, nephews, and step-grandchildren; and a step-great-granddaughter.

A memorial service will be held at Habing Family Funeral Home in the Fall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial gifts to Gilroy Foundation's Janice and Charles Krahenbuhl Memorial Fund for Teacher and Student Supplies, at: https://gilroyfoundation.org/donate-now/.

Published in Gilroy Dispatch · July 21, 2025