Charles Wright Blakley

Charles (Chick) Blakley was born the third child of seven to George M and Ruth Estella (Vinson) Blakley on November 24 (Thanksgiving Day) 1921 at rural Parma, Idaho. Most of his growing up was on the Hillside Fruit farm at rural Parma, Idaho. He attended the Upper Roswell (one room) grade school grades 1-7 and Roswell, Idaho High School Grades 8-12, graduating in 1939. He attended College of Idaho for one and half years. Chick worked for Western Auto Supply Co. in Caldwell, Nampa and Boise before being drafted into the Army Air Force in August 1942. He was an engineer-gunner on a B-24 bomber assigned to the 44th Bomb Group in England. On his eighth mission the plane was shot down on a mission to France on January 21, 1944. He avoided being a German prisoner of war with the help of the French Underground, wearing patent leather oxfords, walked over the Pyrenees Mountains into Spain. He was listed as MIA for nearly three months. After returning to the 44th base in England he was return to the states and spent the last year of the war as an instructor at the engine change school at Chanute Field, Illinois. Chick was discharged October 1945. He was a T/Sgt and was awarded the Purple Heart; Air Medal with one bronze cluster; Good Conduct Medal; European Theatre Operation ribbon with one bronze star. After WWII, Chick returned to the Boise Western Auto Supply Co. store for four years. In 1951 he went with Idaho Power Co. and was the Moble Construction Dept. office supervisor for 34 years, retiring in July 1984. He was also a first aid instructor for Idaho Power Co. and the American Red Cross. March 1946 he met Frances Ives, the love of his life, on a blind date. They were married July 14, 1946. They were together for nearly 62 years until Frances passed away on June 2008 from the effects of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s). They had one son Larry on May 2, 1948. Chick liked to work in the garden, fish, play pinochle, domino, Jack Pot, NV and travel. In a pickup camper, they traveled the Alcan Highway to Alaska. After he retired, he and Frances spent four winters in Yuma, AZ and other locations in AZ in their 5th wheel trailer and weekends for ten summers at the Hi-De-Ho travel trailer club at Garden Valley, ID. Chick was active in the Boy Scouts, Cub Master and T19 Scout Master at Jefferson School PTA. He was the camping and activity committee chairman for the Mr. View Council that had summer camps Tapawingo and Morrison at McCall and Billie Rice at Warm Lake. Late 1960”s, the Ore-Ida council at Nampa wanted to merge with the Mt. View Council of Boise. Chick was on the committee to name the new council. The new council was to serve scout units in Idaho and Oregon, and through his efforts on the committee to show the geographic location of the council and the new council became Ore-Ida. In 1969 he was awarded the Silver Beaver award, the highest that a council can award an adult scouter. Chick is survived by his son Larry (Melissa) Boise, ID; Grandsons Brian Blakley, Ashland, OR and Chris Blakley, Twin Falls, ID and Granddaughters Sarah (Eric) Dildine, Bend, OR and Megan (Christopher) Quijano, Boise, ID and three Great-grandchildren: Kaylee, Spencer and Dominic and one brother Everett (Norma) of Denver, CO. Many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and brother David (1921), George (1077, and Wilner (2001) and sisters Artena (1995 and Ellen (2005).