Charles R Pengilly

Ride your bike, play some golf, or play some bridge in the morning and then attend a get-together to remember Chuck at the Barn at the Ranch Club on Friday, May 26, 2017 beginning at 12:30 p.m.

Chuck died on Feb. 9, 2017, at St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, listening to the Pixies and the Clash with his wife Marcia and their son Mick at his side. He was 68 years old.

Chuck was born in Minneapolis and grew up in Fresno, California. Chuck earned his undergraduate degree in philosophy from the University of California Berkeley and a master’s degree in English literature from the University of California-Davis. He then taught English at the University of California-Davis and served in the United States Air Force Reserve for six years. He graduated from law school at the University of California Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall). Chuck served as an intern in his 2L year in law school with Alaska Supreme Court Justice Jay Rabinowitz and after graduation served as a law clerk to Justice Rabinowitz. His law practice in Fairbanks included working at two well-regarded civil firms and doing trial and appellate work with the Fairbanks Public Defender Office (where he and Marcia met). He also taught trial practice at the University of Oregon Law School. During his tenure on the bench, Chuck also earned a degree in mathematics from the University of Alaska Fairbanks (working on the degree by taking classes during his lunch hour).

Chuck was appointed to the Alaska District Court in Fairbanks in 1990, and then to the Superior Court in Fairbanks in 1997. He retired from the Court System in May 2006 and he and Marcia and Mick moved to Missoula. There he found a second career as a bike trip leader and bike mechanic for Adventure Cycling and as one of their best volunteers ever (cataloging and organizing 35 years of publications for the Adventure Cycling library).

Chuck loved backpacking, cycling, and traveling. His cycling adventures took him to France, the Netherlands, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, and throughout the United States and Canada (not to mention that he rode his bike to the courthouse as a judge all winter in Fairbanks so long as the temperature was above 20 below!). Chuck visited Japan twice (one of Chuck’s favorite places). His backpacking trips took him to Yosemite, the Tetons, the White Mountains, the Bob (Marshall), and his and Marcia’s favorite, the Pintlers.

But what Chuck loved most was spending time with Marcia and Mick (he and Marcia celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary last October).

Chuck was a sports guy (golf, tennis, running, squash, racketball, cycling, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, Martial arts, backpacking). While in Alaska, he was an avid runner, winning the Valdez Marathon and competing in the Fairbanks Equinox Marathon on numerous occasions. He was one of the first snowboarding Moose Mountain Ski Patrol members.

There will be a no-cost nine-hole golf scramble on the back nine at the Ranch Club golf course (where Chuck made his hole-in-one) in Chuck’s memory on that Friday, May 26, with a shotgun start at 9:30 a.m. If you’d like to golf, contact Marcia at meholland@bresnan.net (no need to be a good golfer, just need to want to play on Chuck’s favorite course). If you prefer a bike ride instead, feel free to ride your bike to the Barn (if you want to join in on a group ride, contact Julie Huck at Adventure Cycling, 406-721-1776).

Please bring pictures and memories of all kinds of Chuck to share for the afternoon.

Marcia and Mick suggest that donations be made to Adventure Cycling’s Greg Siple Young Adult Bicycle Program which empowers young riders to gain skills, get a bike and go on a trip by making a donation online at adventurecycling.org/support-adventure-cycling/young-adult-scholarship-program-cp/ or mailed to: Adventure Cycling, P.O. Box 8308, Missoula, MT 59807 (or to the charity or non-profit of your choice) in lieu of flowers.