Charles Sumner Farnsworth

Charles (Chuck) Sumner Farnsworth, 88, of Erie, Colorado died on May 14, 2021. Chuck was born in Burlington, Colorado on February 11, 1933. Chuck lived in Colorado all his life and lived a quiet lifestyle with his family and enjoyed time with his friends. Chuck graduated from Burlington High School in 1951 and after high school, joined the United States Navy and spent most of his 4 years on two Navy destroyers: the USS Frank E Evans and the USS Stickell with 3 trips to Korea. After serving in the Navy, Chuck spent a year in Boulder at the University of Colorado and then went to work for Western Electric Company in 1956 as an installer and took a lot of specialized schooling. This ultimately led to him going into Engineering with AT&T. He had many varied assignments including working and traveling the Caribbean, South America, Canada and all over the United States. He retired in 1989 with 33 years in the company. After retirement, he worked 10 more years as a Consultant in the telephone industry. In 1959, he married Shirley DeFreese. They had two children, Rhonda Gaspar and Dean Farnsworth. In the summers, they enjoyed the outdoors, fishing and camping with the families Labrador Retriever, family reunions, as well as traveling to the Caribbean, Mexico and Florida and the winters were enjoyed skiing Colorado’s mountains. Chuck had many hobbies, but there was nothing that he enjoyed more than golfing. Most days of the week you could find him at the local golf course golfing with his friends. Chuck was also a member of the USS Frank E. Evans Association. Two memorable trips were to Washington, DC where he had lunch at the Pentagon and attended a ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery honoring lives lost on the USS Evans. He also was able to visit the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. The second trip was to Sydney, Australia for a ceremony that was hosted by the Australian Royal Navy. Chuck is preceded in death by his daughter, Rhonda Gaspar. He is survived by his wife, Shirley; son, Dean both of Erie, CO, 3 grandchildren, Dustin (Natacha) Gaspar of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, Donessa Gaspar of Commerce City, Colorado and Curtis Farnsworth of Longmont, Colorado, and lastly, 1 great grandson, Jett Gaspar of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming. A private Funeral Service is scheduled at Fort Logan in Denver, Colorado.