Charles Heebner
Obituary
September 23, 1945-January 24, 2023
Chuck was born in Watsonville on cool day, September 23, 1945, while his father was twenty miles away, trying to hurry the process of being discharged from the Army at Fort Ord.
His parents, Richard (Dick) and Lillie (Hillman) Heebner, had met at a Christmas dinner in 1943 and wed on Easter at All Saints Episcopal Church.
Although not technically a Boomer, Chuck arrived to a world ecstatic over the end of World War II. A military presence had boosted the local population and housing was scarce, so the Heebner family was obliged to begin their lives together in a tiny 1880s log cabin above the beach in Rio del Mar.
Once moved back into town, Chuck started school and acquired trademark characteristics-a quizzical expression, playful grin, and sharp powers of observation-all paired with a dry wit usually unexpected and funny as hell.
Chuck made friends easily and kept most for life. In 1955, just as Mad Magazine hit the racks, his family moved to La Selva and Chuck was known in the beach community for his off-beat drawings. With a natural talent for art illustration, he devised his own quirky slant on life's absurdities.
Chuck joined the Navy and left for training after high school. He returned to marry Geraldine (Geri) Derpich, October 9, 1966, at St. Patrick's Catholic Church, with a festive reception following at the Derpich family's Miramar Restaurant on Main Street. Too soon, Chuck was deployed to South Vietnam, where he served 13 months attached to the Marines as a hospital corpsman (USMC Doc.) He was honorably discharged after three years.
Chuck and Geri settled back in Watsonville with their daughter Lori in 1968. He enrolled in college and then worked ten years as an operating room technician and respiratory therapist at Watsonville Hospital. Shifting careers, he continued another 32 years with Silicon Valley's semiconductor industry.
Tall and athletic, Chuck was an avid runner and bicyclist, counting his tour around Lake Tahoe as an epic ride.
Geri and Chuck enjoyed being active in the community, and he was a cook for years at Padres Corralitos pancake breakfasts. When they moved and lived 15 years in Dayton, Nevada, he joined the VFW and was also a volunteer shuttle driver for Carson Tahoe Health.
Chuck struggled with health challenges several years before he died on January 24. He is survived by Geri, his wife of 56 years, and his daughter Lori (Doug) Walters. He was "Papa Chuck" to two grandchildren, Kaylin (Nick) Scacchetti, and Jake (Karey) Walters, and three great-grandchildren, Jaxon, Finley, and Knoxly Walters, all of North Carolina. Chuck also leaves a sister, Carolyn (Steve) Swift, of Watsonville, and brother Rick (Erlinda) Heebner of Colorado Springs, along with Rick's children Bethanie and Alec Heebner.
The family is grateful to cousin Tom Hillman for helping to arrange a family reunion Chuck was able to attend in North Carolina last October.
A celebration of life will be in Chuck's honor on Saturday, April 8, 2023, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the Monarch Room at Seascape Golf Club, 610 Clubhouse Drive, Aptos.
Published in The Pajaronian and Press Banner · February 23, 2023