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Charles was born January 11, 1930, in Long Beach, California, to Edward and Edith (Clanton) Grove.
As a young man, Charles served two years in the U.S. Navy and then worked in the copper mines in Arizona.
He met a beautiful nurse, Sabina Volk, in Long Beach, and married her on May 21, 1959. Shortly thereafter God blessed them with four children. He worked for the Los Angeles Fire Department for nine years, fighting the Bel Air brush fire in 1961 and fires in the Watts riot in 1965.
In 1968, they moved to Boundary County, Idaho, where he worked for the U.S. Forest Service and ran a small ferry boat before acquiring licensing in heavy equipment and going to work for Louisiana Pacific Lumber company as a grader operator.
He spent many years grading roads in the backwoods of North Idaho, acquiring a love for the mountains which he shared with his children during Sunday drives, fishing and huckleberry-gathering trips.
He and Sabina appreciated good music, classical, folk and ethnic, as well as good literature and art. In his leisure time he wrote poetry and polemics, and captured his love of nature and people in photography.
He moved his family to the East Coast for a brief period before returning to North Idaho. In 1981, the family moved to Reedsport, Oregon, where Charles worked for the Bureau of Land Management until retirement in 1995.
After retiring, he and Sabina moved to Brookings to be closer to family.
He enjoyed walking on the beach and visiting with his neighbors. He was blessed in his last months with a great-granddaughter who was the light in his eyes.
Charles is survived by children Dr. Stan Grove, Lander, Wyoming, Valerie Cowan and husband Pete of Brookings and grandchildren Ben, Gemma, Shanon and Ann Cowan and Royal Sybrandt and great-granddaughter Mercy Rae, daughter Becky Schafer and husband Rob of Gold Beach, Oregon, and grandchildren Sam, Joe and Maggy Schafer.
He was preceded in death by his beloved wife Sabina, daughter Katherine and brother Edward.
Redwood Memorial Chapel assisted the family. Condolences may be expressed online at www.redwoodmemorial.net.