Charles B. Sigler

Charles Burton Chuck Sigler, 78, passed away on Jan. 11, 2010, at home, from sarcoma cancer. Chuck was born March 14, 1931, in Oklahoma City, to Mary Margaret (Pritchett) and Charles B. Sigler Sr. He grew up in the oilfields of Oklahoma where his family moved frequently. He attended high school at Marshall, Okla., where he graduated in 1949. He was president of his sophomore and junior class and captain of the football team his senior year. He graduated from Oklahoma A & M College in 1953 with a degree in forestry. He was selected for Alpha Zeta, an honorary academic fraternity, and was in the Army ROTC program. Immediately after graduation, Chuck fulfilled a longterm desire to be a smokejumper for the U.S. Forest Service at Missoula. He jumped on eight fires during the 1953 fire season and made numerous practice jumps. He then entered active duty in the U.S. Army as a second lieutenant. In 1954 he was accepted into the Army Aviation Program and received his wings as an Army aviator. He was assigned to the Army Topographic Map Service which immediately sent him back to flight school for additional training as a helicopter pilot. For the next three years he transported surveyors from mountain top to mountain top in Alaska and other rugged unsurveyed locations. Since the exact shape of the earth was unknown, this survey information was critical to development of guided missile systems of that era. After honorable discharge from the Army in April 1957, Chuck received a permanent appointment as a forester for the U.S. Forest Service in the St. Joe National Forest, Idaho. He later started a career as a commercial helicopter pilot with Petroleum Helicopters, the world s largest helicopter company. While a commercial pilot, he also flew for Helicopters de Colombia (Bogota, Colombia), Agro Aereo (Guayaquil, Ecuador), Roberts Aircraft (Boise, Idaho), and Columbia Helicopters (Portland). In addition, he was a civilian flight instructor at the U.S. Army helicopter school at Fort Wolters, Texas. Chuck s first appointment as a national park service ranger was at Mount Rainier National Park where he met his wife, Kathy Wray. Within three years he was the supervisory ranger of the Paradise Ski Area and the search and rescue operations on main routes of Mount Rainier. This was followed by assignments as district ranger of the North Rim in Grand Canyon National Park where their daughter Sabrina was born, superintendent of Christiansted National Historic Site, Buck Island Reef National Monument in the U.S. Virgin Islands where their daughter Sarah was born, chief ranger at Shenandoah National Park, and chief ranger at Glacier National Park, until he retired in January 1995. Other accomplishments during his Park Service career include graduating from the FBI academy, SCUBA certification, and being a founder of the Association of National Park Rangers in 1977 in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Chuck loved the backcountry of Glacier and as often as possible he would get out of the office for a ski trip, a backcountry hike, or a climb. While at Glacier he climbed many peaks and made first ascents on Kaiser Peak and Rain Shadow. He climbed Mount St. Nicholas and Mount Cleveland among many others. Chuck is survived by his wife, Kathy, of 44 years. He is also survived by daughter, Sabrina, and husband, Ron Nichols, and their sons, Winslow and Walton; as well as daughter, Sarah, and husband, Pablo Ponce, and their daughter, Kamila; father-in-law, Curtis Wray, of Tacoma, Wash.; and an aunt, Betty Jo Shellady, of Enid, Okla.; also surviving are brother-in-law, Vaughn Wray, of Tacoma; and sisters-in-law, Kristine Sheldon of Lakeside, Julie Klontz of Edgewood, Wash., and Elizabeth Wray of Vancouver, Wash. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16, at the Columbia Falls United Methodist Church.