Charles Temple Jr.

Charles Temple Jr.  was born in Kingman, Kansas on February 11, 1928. He passed away peacefully at home with his children by his side on April 27, 2026. He was preceded in death by his parents, Charles Temple Sr. and Blanche Birdwell Temple and by his former spouse and good friend, Rella Temple and his brother David Temple.

He is survived by his children Charles Temple III,  (spouse Claudia) Valerie Temple and Dale Temple and his grandchildren Christi Farinha,  Charles Temple IV,  and Dominique Yettito and seven great grandchildren.  He will be deeply missed by his family and friends.

Throughout his life,  Charles excelled at nearly everything he undertook.  He was a 1944 state champion in high school track and field,  a member of the ROTC  and played clarinet in the Centennial High School band.  After graduation,  he served in the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division, where he was a member of the Army band and a star athlete for the 511th Parachute Infantry Regiment stationed in post-World War II Japan.  Following his military service he participated in track and field for the University of Colorado,  where he earned his bachelor’s degree.  He later worked evenings at the steel mill in Pueblo before transitioning into a career as a highly respected homebuilder.

However,  it wasn’t until he retired that he found his true passion: fly fishing. It was there that he made an undeniable connection with the rivers he fished.  Perhaps because,  like the rivers, he was a force of nature.  He spent nearly every day,  from sunrise to sunset flyfishing the rivers ranging from the Madison River in Montana to the Arkansas headwaters on down into Pueblo.   In his mid-nineties, age slowed him down and a leg injury prevented him from fishing the last two years of his life.  Perhaps, one of his greatest achievements was learning how to live a fulfilled life.

I have seen the slow and brackish river shallow and languish before the sea. My hands that dared to hold and keep you,  will close your eyes and I shall weep and wonder,  “Father, are you now the storm or the gentle breeze?” poem by Dale Temple