Charles ‘Chuck’ Raymond Shawver

Friday, August 02, 2013

Charles Raymond Shawver was living life to the fullest and enjoying many of his favorite activities like spending time with family and friends, planning a trip to Italy with his beloved partner, Sarah, and looking forward to his 50th high school reunion when his life was taken suddenly in a motorcycle accident on Tuesday, July 30, 2013. 

Charles was born in Laramie on Nov. 12, 1944, to J. Earl and Cathern (Coolinghan-Prahl) Shawver. He attended grade school at St. Laurence Elementary and graduated from Laramie Senior High School. He served in the Army National Guard and went on to graduate from the University of Wyoming with a business degree. 

Charles was patient, kind and a loving and devoted father, papa and friend. He always looked at the positive side of things and continually reminded everyone who was important to him that, “your reality is what you make it.” He could brighten any room with his sparkling blue eyes and his broad smile accompanied by his contagiously warm laugh. He has made a profound impression on every heart that he has touched. He enjoyed being in the outdoors year-round: downhill and cross country skiing, snow shoeing, hiking, motorcycling, tubing the river or just taking in the beauty around him. 

He rarely missed a single sporting event for his grandchildren. He was their biggest fan. 

He was an avid Wyoming Cowboys and Cowgirls ticket holder. He loved spending time at his family cabins in Centennial. He was a natural leader and prospered in many entrepreneurial jobs throughout his life. For many years, Charles was the owner of Rocky Mountain Forest Products and was also an active member and past president of Laramie’s Sunrise Rotary Club. He had a generous heart and truly enjoyed giving back to his community by participating in projects such as the Laramie Economic Development Corporation and the Laramie Main Street Alliance. Laramie was his hometown. He had such a passion for life and a curiosity for travel. Traveling to India with his brother, Larry, and countless motorcycle trips with Ted Wiley were especially memorable.

Charles is survived by his partner Sarah Heyen; her daughter Brooke (Patrick) Allison, of Denver, Colo.; Charles’s two daughters, Kristen (Jerry) Peterson, of Laramie, and Jenifer (Darrell) Rothgeb, of Reno, Nev.; his two sisters, Sally (Carl) Scott, of Boulder, Colo., and Julie Rose, of Laramie; his three brothers, Larry Shawver, of Three Oaks, Mich., Ted (Carol) Shawver, of Danville, Calif., and Jim (Beth) Shawver, of Fort Collins, Colo.; his six grandchildren, Josh and Jerrica Peterson, of Laramie, and Danyelle, Travis, Christopher and DJ Rothgeb, of Reno.

Cremation has taken place. All are invited to a celebration of life for Charles that will take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 3 at the Edgar J. Lewis Bandshell in Washington Park. Charles will be deeply missed, but he will forever live on in our hearts. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Laramie Rotary Foundation and then the Sunrise Rotary Club can direct what charitable purposes they want to do with them. P.O. Box 12, Laramie, WY 82073.

Services are under the direction of Montgomery-Stryker Funeral Home. To send condolences or to sign the online guestbook, go to the website at www.montgomerystryker.com.

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Chuck passed away in a motorcycle/truck accident 10 miles north of Fort Collins, Tuesday, July31, 2013. Here is the obituary posted and copied from the Laramie Boomerang.

A longtime Laramie resident, businessman and volunteer was killed while riding a motorcycle in Colorado on Tuesday.

Charles “Chuck” Shawver, 68, died Tuesday afternoon after his motorcycle, a 2008 Kawasaki ZG 1400-A, collided with a dump truck on U.S. Highway 287 north of Fort Collins, Colo., Colorado State Patrol Trooper Nate Reid said.

“(Shawver) was eastbound on (Colorado Highway) 14, and there’s a dump truck traveling southbound on 287,” Reid said. “The motorcycle failed to yield to the southbound dump truck.”

Shawver struck the side of the dump truck, Reid said, and died at the scene of the collision.

The dump truck’s driver was ejected from the vehicle, and later flown by helicopter to Medical Center of the Rockies in Loveland, Colo., for treatment.

A third vehicle involved in the crash ran off the road, but both the driver and the passenger escaped injury.

Reid said drugs or alcohol were not a factor in Tuesday’s crash.

A longtime Laramie resident, Shawver was deeply involved in the community, said Tom Mangan, former vice president of Laramie’s First Interstate Bank.

Shawver formerly served as president of Rocky Mountain Forest Products and was involved in Rotary Club, Laramie Main Street Alliance and the Laramie Economic Development Corporation.

“I just think he believed in the community,” Mangan said of Shawver’s volunteerism.

“He was one that shared those values that you get back what you put in, and so he put a lot of effort into the community.”

Mangan said that Shawver will be greatly missed throughout the community.

“I just think Chuck was a good individual,” he said. “I think a lot of people knew him and a lot of people will miss him.”

A celebration of Shawver’s life is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday at the Edgar J. Lewis Bandshell in Washington Park.

Memorials can be made to the Laramie Sunrise Rotary Club, P.O. Box 2188, Laramie, WY 82073.