Charles Cavanaugh

Charles "Chuck" Jerome Cavanaugh, 99, of Idaho Falls, passed away September 16, 2019, at his home.
Charles was born April 7, 1920, in Wallace, ID, to John Cavanaugh and Alice Cyr Cavanaugh. His parents both loved the outdoors and Charles came to love it as well. Throughout his life he was a fisherman, hunter, explorer, rock hound, mushroom collector, and huckleberry picker. He grew up in the wild and woolly mining town of Wallace, Idaho. At the age of 17 Charles obtained his pilot's license and learned to fly a Travel Air biplane. Charles worked in the Coeur d' Alene mines near Wallace supplying timber in his teens and operating an ore train in his twenties.

On July 16, 1941 Charles Cavanaugh married 17 year-old Elizabeth Adams in Superior, Montana. The marriage was the result of a double elopement with friends Mable Glidden and Thomas Hanson. The couple had one child, Elizabeth (Betty). Charles then served in the U.S. Navy as a radar operator during World War II. He was stationed on a steam-powered wooden tugboat, ATR-72. The tug pulled ammunition barges across the Pacific to the Phillipines. While he was serving in the Pacific Theater, Elizabeth filed for divorce. Charles returned home on emergency leave to plead with Elizabeth. He returned to a Navy assignment to bring back the Landing Ship Medium 344 from Okinawa to San Francisco. Charles arrived in Okinawa just two weeks after the battle ended. He remembers walking among many decaying and booby-trapped young bodies. When the war ended, Charles returned to study electrical engineering at Montana State University.
On June 8, 1947, he married Frances Ruth Cavanaugh in Bozeman, MT. The couple had three children, Patrick, Mary and Kenneth. Charles and Frances made their home in Belgrade, Montana. Later they moved to Billings, Montana to pursue new employment opportunities. In 1956 the family moved to Idaho Falls, Idaho, where Charles worked for more than 35 years as an Electrical Engineer for various contractors at the National Reactor Testing Station and later the INEL. Most of our peacetime knowledge about nuclear reactors was discovered at the various reactors at the "site". Charles attended evening classes at the University of Idaho for many years.

Charles was an unforgettable character and a quintessential outdoorsman throughout his life. He has been the focus of several Outdoor Idaho Programs produced by Idaho Public Television. The family is thankful that Charles was able to remain in his home during later life due to the years of love and caregiving performed by Toni Cavanaugh.

Charles is survived by his daughter, Betty (Morgan Hill) Cavanaugh Hill of
Hayden, ID; son, Patrick (Carol Hackney) Cavanaugh of Boise, ID; son, Kenneth (Toni Yamamoto) John Cavanaugh of Boise, ID; 9 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren and 5 great great grandchildren.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Frances Ruth Cavanaugh; his parents, John and Alice Cavanaugh; sister, Katherine Cavanaugh Lewis; his daughter, Mary Dell Cavanaugh, and his grandson, Raymond Grof.
Memorial Services will be held in the chapel at Cloverdale Funeral Home in Boise, Idaho on October 19, 2019 at I pm. Following the services, the family will visit with friends from 2:30 pm to 5 pm at a reception honoring Charles' life at 1998 E. Table Rock Road, Boise, Idaho. Memorials can be made to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation at www.rmef.org or to the Idaho Youth Ranch at www.youthranch.org. Condolences may be sent to the family online at