Charles Engebretson

Chuck Engebretson, Smithfield, Utah, passed away at the VA Veterans Home, Ogden, Utah, on Sept. 21, 2017.

The King Benjamin painting, for which Chuck was the model, was completed by Jeremy Winborg of Hyde Park, Utah, and is a part of a collection of art done by Jeremy and his father, Larry. The painting was used as the cover of the November 2009 conference issue of the Ensign. This painting was also used several more times in following issues of the Ensign.

Several years ago Chuck wrote out these words as his goodbye to family and friends:

I was born on April 1, 1928, in a deserted bank building in Alkabo, North Dakota, and died loved by family and my many friends who I will still be bragging about.

I am survived by my daughters Michaeline Engebretson, Sedro Woolley, Wash; Valli Quintance, San Diego, Ca; Pamela Engebretson, Palo Alto, Ca; Kelly Olsen and Kimberly Wangsgaard, Logan, Utah; plus those who adopted me - Paul Barnes, Josh Ford, Charles Cook, lost count of grandkids and great-grandkids, my Hansen grandkids, my Wassom grandkids, my Ford grandkids, by the great loves of my life, Juni and Karen (deceased) and by the greatest love of all, Sharon Louise Engebretson, my wife, who over the years helped me weigh anchor and drop it so very many times as changing conditions dictated; also my sisters, Myrtle Blodgett and Alta Pearson, brothers Julius James (Jim) and Murray David, all still living in Montana; my father and mother, Carl and Bertha Engebretson, brothers Albert, George and Duane, Montana; and son David Cascade Engebretson, Clinton, Washington, have preceded me on this journey. I will use them as examples of what dignity is.

I love you all and am proud of each of you on your own merits. I have a great love for kids, my own and all those who adopted me as Dad and Granddad.

I have friends in all of the countries I have lived in. I treasure these friends in my daily life.

There are many in my life like Bob Wilson and Denny Allison who claim that it takes me over an hour to walk through the town plaza, and it is true. People feel free to stop me and share their life with me.

I am a decorated Marine, longtime commercial deep-sea diver who worked salvage with Lloyds of London, as well as setting oil rigs and laying pipeline underwater, a builder, a gold miner in South America and a lifelong artist. I painted over 8000 paintings and in excess of 4000 portraits.

I love the sea; I liked working in it and sailing on it. I love gaff-rigged schooners. I love to sail them and paint them. I love the way I could "Trice Up and Heave to" in heavy weather, or many times, just for the night, sail up into the wind, fall off, sail up into the wind again and just jog back and forth, all the time staying in one place, riding the current and tide.

I have had the pleasure of living in a number of countries around the world as well as in many parts of the USA. I have felt at home in all of them. The only continent I missed was Antarctica. Before I started forgetting everything I could get along in seven different languages.

I have loved well and have been loved in return by some wonderful women. Not all of these worked out, probably due to growth on their part. They are still wonderful women who are still loved. I will take the good parts to eternity with me.

Sharon is my eternal soul mate. You found a way to make things work, probably through sticking with me to the end. You married me in 1973. Through thick and thin you were there. We are sealed for time and all eternity, and I am preparing a place for you there. 1 love you, Sharon.

1 have always tried to make sure that all of you who are my friends and all of my family know without any doubt just how much you are esteemed by me, how important you are to me and how well I respect and love each of you.

I hope that I have been able to achieve the final goals that I set for myself, to wit: I wanted to die without regret, with honor and in anticipation of that which I know my future to be.

I am a man of the Sea and I died a man of the Sea. "I have finally lived myself to death."

I have a word of caution to you all: Whatever be your Faith, live it well and seek after a more complete knowledge of it. And behave.

I love you all. Eternally yours -

Chuck

Chuck had a very deep, loving bond with Mandy and Melinda, the two granddaughters that he chose in the pre-existence.

Chuck does not remember a time when he was not drawing. Painting followed as a natural result.

He sold his first painting at the age of 17 to his commanding office in the Marine Corps while stationed in China. During his travel he studied with some of the world's best artists. He believes that the fundamental responsibility of an artist is not just to see but to see into the essence of an object, a scene or a person.

Chuck used many different techniques and a variety of mediums, including oils, watercolors and acrylics. His subjects were landscapes, portraits, still lives, wildlife and seascapes. His works have been shown in many galleries.

Among some of his most notable works are; 392 scenes of the Bahamas. The entire collection was purchased by Magnavox Corporation; a 600-foot long and 10-foot high historical portrayal of Louisiana painted in fresco with assistance of another artist on the walls of the Southern Pacific Train Depot in New Orleans; another mural in New Orleans was lost during a hurricane; a 42-foot wide and 28-foot high mural in the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Westminister, California; two carpets, one 40 feet by 80 feet, depicting Louisiana history. The original artwork was woven into the design of the carpets, which were then installed in the main solons of the governor's mansion; numerous portraits and paintings owned by the late Princess Grace of Monaco, Lady Nancy Oaks, Sir David Nobel, Sir William Bisson, sheik Isa Kaliffa of Bahrain and other notables too numerous to list; and 10 original oil paintings depicting ethnic, social and economic highlights of colorful and historical Brighton, Colorado.

Chuck lived the cultures, learned the languages of his world "tour:" China, Korea, Alaska Eskimos, Mexico, Colombia, Terra del Fuego, Persian Gulf (Bahrain), North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico.

As a result of his world travel, he had a wealth of knowledge and experiences that lent an invaluable dimension to his art - the ability to see beyond the obvious.

Condolences may be sent to the family online at www.nelsonfuneralhome.com.