Charles Carney Dahl was born June 17, 1931, in Benson, Minnesota. He was the only child of Axel and Esther (Simonson) Dahl. Axel and Esther both grew up in Minnesota. Axel was Swedish, and he broke the hearts of all the Swedish young ladies in town when he married Esther Simonson, the Norwegian schoolteacher. The family moved to Los Angeles, California during the depression when their Minnesota farm failed.
Charles (his mother always called him Charles) grew up in Los Angeles on Spaulding Avenue with a pet cat named Sally. During his adult years, most people knew him as Chuck. He attended Hamilton High School and graduated in 1949. While in high school he discovered what became a lifelong interest: photography. At age 17 during his senior year of high school, he enlisted in the US Navy. When his father died suddenly in 1951, he received a discharge in order to care for his widowed mother. But Uncle Sam still wanted Chuck: in 1952, he was drafted into the US Army. After his years of service during the Korean War, he attended USC on the GI bill and earned his Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering in 1959. Later he earned his MA in Education from UCLA.
In 1958, Chuck married Rosalie Carlson, whom he had known since elementary school because both of their families attended Los Angeles Free Church, where they were married. Chuck and Rosalie had three children: David, Robyn, and Steven. While the children were small, Chuck and Rosalie bought a lot at Hume Lake Christian Camps and Chuck built a cabin for the family to use during summers. Chuck and Rosalie used the cabin until they were no longer able to drive to it, and they sold it in their 80s. Their children and grandchildren have countless sweet memories of times there during the 50 years the family had it. Chuck and Rosalie often made the cabin available it to pastors and missionaries as a place of respite.
During his early career, Charles was a professional civil engineer. He was on the building committee that purchased the property and designed and constructed the buildings for Bible Fellowship Church on Ralston in Ventura, now called Encounter Church. After he earned his master’s degree, he turned to academia, teaching engineering, drafting, and related subjects. He taught and served as an administrator for 29 years at Ventura College and retired in 1992.
Chuck and Rosalie were season ticket holders for Ventura County Symphony Orchestra for many seasons. Chuck didn’t play any orchestral instruments, but he loved attending the symphony and delighted in listening to the pipe organ. (Sometimes late at night his daughter Robyn would wake up to his plunking out hymns on the piano.) One of his favorite songs was “Alley Cat.”
Charles was very interested in solar energy and devoted one teaching sabbatical to studying it. He owned a small business for solar water systems with his brother-in-law, Dr. Ernest Carlson, during the 1970s and 80s. He also had a private consulting business while he taught at Ventura College and during his first decade of retirement.
Chuck and Rosalie’s oldest son David died of suicide in 1987, and the grief of this loss nearly buried them. They survived with the help of a suicide support group, which they met with monthly in Los Angeles for many years.
After Chuck retired, he and Rosalie spent 4 months in Belgium, where he served Greater Europe Mission as an electrical technician. Once they had returned to Ventura, he volunteered with the California Youth Authority, setting up online education programs and scholarships for the young inmates.
Chuck rarely met a broken machine that he couldn’t fix. He loved shopping and was especially happy when he got a great deal on a used car, camera, computer, or major appliance. He doted on Rosalie and cared lovingly for her as she began experiencing health challenges at the beginning of his retirement. He started his own cognitive decline in his later eighties but remained focused on Rosalie’s comfort and safety even as dementia claimed his independence and skills. They celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary August 2, 2023.
Chuck died on January 20, 2025. He is survived by his daughter Robyn, son Steven, and their families. He is preceded in death by his son David and by his wife Rosalie, who died April 25, 2024.