Charles Hobbs

Charles (Chuck) Victor Hobbs, 66, of Eau Claire, Wisconsin passed away unexpectedly on Christmas Day at home. Chuck was born on October 13, 1955 in Shell Lake, Wisconsin. He was adopted by Carroll and Alice Hobbs. He grew up in Minong.

After graduating from high school, Chuck began his first adventure with the Army serving in Germany. After his discharge, he decided to attend District One Technical College to become a police officer. After finishing, Chuck chose a different path and went to work for Dick Holum building houses. When the housing crisis hit, he reenlisted in the Army for the second time in 1981. He joined the 82nd Airborne at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina and was very proud of making 110 jumps. It was also during this time that he married his first wife, Carol and had his daughter, Cassandra.

After completing this tour of service, he came back to Eau Claire and started working, again, with Dick Holum for Lunda Construction building bridges. In 1994, he was united in marriage to Amy Hobbs. In 2002, Chuck made the decision to rejoin the Army National Guard. Thirteen days after he went to his first duty he was deployed to Mississippi and then to Iraq. He said turning 50 in Iraq wasn’t a great time. He left military service for the third and last time in September, 2006. In 2010 he was involved in a work-related accident and retired from Lunda.

Chuck loved going deer hunting every year with Dick, Polack, Jocko and the boys at Camp Buck-N-A. He also loved going fishing with Charlie Adam and Dan (Bugsy) Zurek. He was a very active member of VFW Post 7232 having served as Commander. He helped the Auxiliary by cooking eggs and potatoes for their breakfasts. One of his passions was learning how to play taps. He was honored to play taps at funerals for deceased veterans. Chuck loved traveling and him and Amy spent most of their vacation time traveling around the country. They had recently decided to make Rose’s Bay Resort their summer home. Chuck was one of the best cooks around. He loved having people over for food and cocktails.

Chuck is survived by his wife, Amy, stepson, Cory Manthei, his sisters-in-law, Mary Eckwright, Katy Bushendorf (Wayne Boggess), Judy Lawrence (Jeff) and brother-in-law Mel Gullickson (Dolores).

Chuck was preceded in death by his parents and his daughter, Cassandra.

Visitation will be on Friday, December 31 at Stokes, Prock & Mundt Funeral Chapel, 535 S. Hillcrest Parkway, Altoona from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. with a memorial service to follow at 1:00 p.m.