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Obituary for Charles D. " Chuck " Clary
1935 - 2010
Newcomer Funeral Home & Cremation Services
2400 South Washington Avenue
Titusville, FL 32780 321-269-6000
Newcomer Funeral Home & Cremation Services
2400 South Washington Avenue
Titusville, FL 32780 321-269-6000
Charles “Chuck” Clary peacefully passed away on Friday, March 5th surrounded by family, good friends and loved ones.
Born in Buffalo, New York in the spring of 1935, Charles' parents, Fredrick and Marge, sensed from an early age that their son would inevitably become an engineer after dissecting the family toaster at the age three.
A naturally hard and determined worker, Chuck spent his summers on the family farm in Hazelridge, Manitoba before returning to catholic school and his job as a soda jerk at Gatchell's Drug Store.
After graduating from Bishop Tamon High School, Chuck worked the steel mills outside Niagara Falls before enlisting in the Navy in 1956. It was here, once again, where his tinkering talents shined and would later prove not only beneficial to himself, but an entire nation.
Upon his honorable discharge, he headed to Florida to “escape that damn snow” and began a job at the Schlitz Brewery in Tampa, Florida. This career, however, would only last two days before he was “drafted,” as a civilian, to help fix a gyroscope problem for the fledgling National Advisory Committee for Aviation.
After that successful launch, Chuck joyfully began an incredible fifty-one year love affair with NASA and the Space Coast.
From loading Ham and Ines (the ape astronauts) into their Mercury capsules to being director of quality control for Lockheed's Space Shuttle program, Chuck's illustrious half-century career spanned the pantheon of America's triumphant leaps into the heavens.
Yet soon another love would also become prominent in Charles' life, this time in the form of a beautiful nurse named Jill Butler. They were married in 1961 and had a son, Greg, in 1963.
Besides leading the Titusville chapter of Aviation Explorers, Chuck was also renowned for his huge heart and willingness to be “Mister Fix-it” for all this friends and co-workers.
His final days were proudly spent advising “those young rocket jocks” at United Space Alliance, making new friends and caring for his ailing beloved wife.
In lieu of flowers, family suggests contributions be made to the Florida Sheriff Youth Ranch in the names of Charles and his sister, La Donna.