Charles Westin

Charles Andrew (Chuck) Westin, 84, of Belleville, Kansas, died from cancer on Oct. 13, at his home.

Chuck was born in Topeka, Kansas, to Carl A. and Florence Helen (Stratton) Westin on May 1, 1939. He was a loving husband, son, father and friend to all.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Carl and Florence Westin; his first wife, Carolyn Lockhart; and his beloved daughter, Christina Louise Westin Fruin.

Chuck is survived by his wife, Carolyn Sue (Laue) Olson Westin, whom he married on April 15, 1982, in Erie, Colorado; his daughters, Carol Westin and Cynthia Westin, and deceased daughter Christina's widow Joy Fruin; his sons, Jason (Lori), Scott (Megan), and Seth (Breanne) Olson; grandchildren, Austin Workman, Samantha Workman, Bailey DeLong, Alex Olson, Ben Olson, and Tatum Connett; his great-grandson, Christopher "Chris" James Kramer (Bailey); and Chuck's brother, Philip (Judy). He said that his greatest joy was being with his wife and their children and grandchildren. He noted they each always treated him with such great kindness and love. He enjoyed the trips he took with his wife of more than 40 years, and enjoyed his many friends, associates and pets.

Chuck graduated from Formoso, Kansas, High School in 1957 and finished one year of college at Emporia State Teachers College where his parents had graduated 30 years earlier. He entered the active Army for two years in 1958. He later graduated from Emporia with a BSBA, Xavier University in Cincinnati with an MBA in hospital administration and Walden University where he received his PhD.

He worked for the VA and the US Public Health Service financing small rural hospitals. He retired in Denver in 1989, and was the administrator of Republic County Hospital in Belleville from 1990 to 2000 (where he retired, as he said, for the third or fourth time). After serving as a military intelligence officer (like his father-in-law), he served from time to time as a volunteer sheriff's deputy where he was able to assist folks. He was honored to serve as the Great Plains Health Alliance board chairman, where his father had been involved 70 years earlier. He said he never had a job he didn't enjoy or supervisors and co-workers whom he didn't respect and admire. Often moving to where his job was, during his work years he lived in Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, Colorado and Texas.

During his life he advocated for many social justice items (including universal health coverage, rural issues and equal justice and opportunity for all) and he hoped that his efforts might help others (and many sort of enjoyed receiving or reading his letters).

With his parents' permission, he joined the Kansas National Guard in Mankato at the age 17 as a private. During the next 33 years, he served on active duty with the Army, and later in the Army, Navy and Air Force Reserves, retiring from the Air Force Reserve as a lieutenant colonel in 1990. He enjoyed his military experiences and said it was probably because he never got shot at and never had to go out of the country. He met his wife who was an Army major masters degree nurse through a military organization. He specifically requested he not receive a military funeral, hoping to reserve that honor for combat veterans whom he said deserved much more than he.

He was generous and was often involved in volunteer work. He loved and appreciated his friends at the American Lutheran Church in Belleville, and requested prayers in lieu of flowers or memorials.

His funeral will be held at the American Lutheran Church in Belleville at 10:30 a.m., today (Thursday), Oct. 19, with Mr. Al Urich, PMA, officiating. Burial will follow at Riverview Cemetery, Scandia.

Visitation was from 1 to 8 p.m, Wednesday, Oct. 18, with family greeting friends from 6 to 8 p.m., at Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home in Belleville.

Memorials are requested to the American Lutheran Church, the Republic County Food Bank, or the Golden Bell Haven, and may be sent to Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home, PO Box 566, Belleville, Kansas, 66935.

Tibbetts-Fischer Funeral Home is assisting the Westin family with these arrangements, http://www.tibbettsfischer funeralhome.com