TRAVERSE CITY — Charles "Chuck" Anthony Wilbur, 91, died Tuesday, July 4, 2006, at French Manor Nursing Home in Traverse City.
Born in Alturas, Modoc County, Calif., Nov. 2, 1914, he was a son of Thomas Ford and Meriba Rose (Stone) Wilbur, and a brother of Everett Thomas Wilbur. His parents were from Lassen County and were of northern California's earliest pioneer families.
In 1921 the family moved to Traverse City so the father could go into business with an aunt, Evalina (Fairchild) (Hostetter) Gordon. She had lived for fifteen years in Alaska, where she married a man from Michigan. They helped start a fur business near Muskegon. After Evalina's husband died, she moved to Traverse City, started a new business, and invited her nephew to join her. The business was Gordon Foxes and Furs, later called Wilbur Foxes and Furs.
Chuck Wilbur grew up on 11th Street, just west of Union, but spent much boyhood time in the woods near the fox ranch and elsewhere in the Boardman Valley. He graduated in 1933 from Traverse City High School.
He had an artistic bent, and had drawings in the 1933 yearbook. He attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, where he received an industrial arts diploma in 1939.
After graduation, he married a fellow student, Florence Alison Rider, of Morgan Park, Chicago. They began a family, and he worked for five years as a lithographer in Chicago. Circa 1945, he tired of the city and indoor work.
Chuck and his then-small family returned to his home town, and he entered the fur business with his father. They gradually switched from raising foxes to raising mink. The business became known as Wilbur's Minkery. It was located on South Garfield Avenue, just south of present day Boon Street. It was one of the better known of the twenty-plus mink ranches in the area.
Chuck loved the out-of-doors. Fishing and hunting were two of his favorite activities, and he knew the woods and waters of the Traverse region as well as anyone.
He was a fly fisherman on the Boardman and other area rivers long before that activity became trendy. He and friends had a deer shack in Kalkaska County. Chuck also hunted and fished with friends in Canada and several western states.
In his later life he became a conservationist and tended to get cranky when discussing tourism and related improvements to northern Michigan.
He always was a skilled artisan. When young, he built large, radio controlled model airplanes. After his move back to Traverse City, he taught several photography classes.
The family purchased a cottage on the Long Lake Peninsula, and he built and repaired wooden boats. He became an antique clock collector and soon was an expert at clock case repair. He, usually with his father, rebuilt parts of or made additions to the family home. These renovations tended to make the house look unusual, especially when complemented by Alison's many art and garden projects. Chuck and Alison loved dogs, and there always were several underfoot.
With his three sons and several friends, Chuck was active in Boy Scout Troop 21. He shared his love of the outdoors with a generation of Traverse Heights boys. In 1965, the Scenic Trails Council named him Scouter of the Year.
He had a sharp memory and was an excellent bridge player. Chuck taught bridge courses at NMC, and he and Alison played in local and state bridge tournaments.
Chuck was proud of his children and always treated them with respect and patience. His children are Thomas Peter (Kathleen Melinda Schlager) of Okemos, Martha "Marty" Elizabeth (Bruce Dean Fox) of Long Lake, Alison "Sally" Stone (Larry Griffin) of San Francisco, Paul Alexander (Barbara Diane Hock) of Fairfax, Va., and Robert "Huck" Hendryx (Cynthia Faye Nichols) of Kent, Wash. He also leaves 15 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren. Several of the foregoing are artistic.
A memorial for Chuck will be held later in the summer. Cremation has taken place and private services will be held at a later date.
Arrangements have been entrusted to the Traverse City Chapel of Covell Funeral Homes
This obituary was originally published in the Record-Eagle.
