Charles Leroy Elms

CHARLES LEROY ELMS

Feb. 5, 1938 - March 6, 2007

Charles Leroy Elms went quietly and peacefully to be with our Lord in the early morning hours of March 6, after a lengthy illness. At his side was his loving wife and life partner, Lynn.
Since 1989, Charlie demonstrated a strong, quiet strength and commitment in his fight with cancer and, despite four attempts, cancer did not win. He was completely cancer free when he went into the Lord's arms. Charlie and about thirty of his family and best friends had just celebrated his 69th birthday in February.
Charlie was a quiet, gentle man. He was an artist with the camera, and spent his entire career as a photographer. For many years Charlie was Chief of Photography at the U.S. Air Force Academy. While at the Academy, he had a great time traveling to many places to photograph everyone and everything from sports events to dignitaries to presidents. (He also enjoyed the notion of flying to some far-flung location for lunch and returning home later in the day.) One of the earliest and proudest memories of his career was the opportunity to photograph aspects of the Apollo Space Program near El Centro, Calif. Throughout the years, many of Charlie's outstanding photographs have been selected as presentation pieces.
Charles and his sisters, Margaret and Marilyn, grew up on Sunny Hills Ranch in Fullerton, Calif. As a young teenager, the family moved to Brawley, in the Imperial Valley. He began his career at the age of 13, when he talked Lou Gesler, Brawley photographer, into letting him sweep the Gesler studio floor. He graduated from Brawley High, class of 1957. Instead of taking a date to the proms, he took his camera as their photographer. Following high school, Charlie served in the U.S. Army for several years as a photographer and was stationed in Germany, which he loved. After the Army, he returned to the Imperial Valley and lived there until he and his first wife, Wilma, and daughter Cheryl moved to San Diego, where his twin sons, Ron and Aaron, were born.
Charlie began working for the government in El Centro, Calif., and later transferred to San Diego, where he worked for the Navy for eighteen years. While living in San Diego, he especially enjoyed time with his family, remodeling his home and playing volleyball on the beach with friends.
Charlie and Lynn met in San Diego and were married there in 1982. The following year they moved to Colorado Springs for his new assignment at the Academy, and Ron and Aaron joined them soon after. He and Lynn recently bought a home in Monument, where Lynn still resides. He loved the pond in their backyard, and spent time sitting beside it almost every day last summer. This is where the celebration of Charlie's life will be held in the spring, as was his wish. The date will be announced when arrangements are completed, and all are invited to join in remembering him. Charlie agreed that waiting until spring was a good idea, since the backyard is now full of snow and the pond is icy, and the thought of having folks mush through the snow to sit around an icy pond wasn't very appealing.
After his retirement from Civil Service the focus (no pun intended) of his photography changed to family pictures and weddings. His home is filled with pictures of his 13 grandchildren and one great-grandson as well as their parents. He was especially fond of pictures he'd taken of his daughter, Cheryl, and her beautiful smile. There aren't many pictures of Lynn, as she was usually busy rearranging people for group pictures and making suggestions for poses. In this, as in many other aspects of their life, Charlie and Lynn were a great team.
Charlie and Lynn were married for almost 25 years, which was significantly longer than either initially expected. They were a truly blended family. During elections, the Republican sign was in the right side of the front yard and the Democrat sign was on the left. Charlie was always known for being early and Lynn was notorious for being late. Occasionally, she would say, "Look, Charlie, we're going to be on time!" To which Charlie would respond, with his usual dry sense of humor, "We're not there yet." Among other traits, Aaron and Ron have inherited their father's timeliness.
One of the highlights of Charlie's later years was the morning coffee bunch at Serrano's in Monument. He frequently took his grandchildren, who have happy memories of this time with Grandpa. Even after he was unable to drive, his friends came to take him to coffee many mornings.
In addition to his wife Lynn, Charlie is survived by Cheryl Yoder and her husband Alex, Ron, Aaron and his wife Angel, his mother Allene Mulligan, sister Marilyn Boone and brother-in-law Harvey, sister Margaret Doty, "adopted" sons-in-law Jon and Johnnie and former daughter-in-law, Mica; grandchildren Kristina, Nicole, Samantha, Jessicah, Joshua, Myrissa, Sinnthya, Jesse, Adam, Anna, Mary Jo, Alannah, and Ashley; niece Debra Burns and nephew Dennis Doty; brother-and-sister-in law Lee and Valarie Hoppin, niece Miranda and nephew Evan Hoppin. His great-grandson, Haven B. Charlie Elms, was born on Charlie's 68th birthday. His passing was preceded by his father, Herman Elms and his stepfather Tom Mulligan.
Charlie and Lynn are grateful for the years of caring and support from family and friends. The list is endless, but special mention go to his best friend Bill Petty, Kris Fitzsimmons, Kathy Forman, Jeannie and Al Larkin, Armin and Nancy Sommer and Gil and Phyllis Moore. For many years Charlie appreciated very special friendships with Phyllis Carmichael, Annikki Hakala, Mi-Lou Trask, Kris Rohren and Cathy and Nick Schoeder.
We are also especially grateful for the outstanding care provided by Drs. Paul Anderson and Matthew Logsdon at RMCC, Dr. Dennis Schneider, Dr. Jack Adams, Dr. Joel Ernster, Dr. Gil Porat, Dr. Pierre Anctil and Dr. Bob Munson. Thank you also to Carla Ryan, RN and Darlene (Perki) Meyerson, CNA, and especially, to Jennifer Gail Adams, our caregiver for her love and friendship this past year. Charlie and his family also received outstanding care from the staff of Evercare Hospice during his last weeks.
Charlie's wish is that, in lieu of flowers, donations be sent to Rocky Mountain Cancer Center at 3057 N. Circle, Colorado Springs, Colo, 80909.