Obituaries:  Charles Windsor "Chuck" Auten Jr., Sabine Parish       A-350
Source:  Sabine Index, Many, La., May 10, 2000
Submitted by: Carl Dilbeck
              carlrad@earthlink.net


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Captain Charles Windsor "Chuck" Auten Jr.

  Captain Charles Windsor "Chuck" Auten Jr., loving father and
devoted husband, passed to new life with Jesus Christ our Lord on
Saturday April 29.

  Chuck was born on August 6, 1927, in Grinnell, Iowa, the son of
Charles W. Auten and Ruth Saunders Auten. Flying was Chuck's
passion, and he first held the stick of an open cockpit biplane
at age three, while sitting in his mother's lap. His father was a
pilot, barn-stormer, wing walker, air-craft designer and was a
mechanic for American Airlines for about forty years.

  In 1945, at age eighteen. Chuck turned down a football
scholarship to Ohio State University to enlist in the Army. He
served in the Signal Corps in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

  His next job was as a flight instructor and air taxi/ambulance
pilot, until he was hired by Mid-Continent Airlines in 1952. He
flew Douglas DC-3s for Mid-Continent, which later merged with
Braniff Airlines.

  Soon after, Chuck met the love of his life, Helen Virginia
Davis, a Braniff flight attendant. After getting her attention
with a couple of infuriating practical jokes, they married in
1955. Chuck and Helen were deeply in love through her passing in
November of 1997. Chuck called Helen, "the smartest, prettiest
girl I ever met."

  At his retirement from Braniff in 1987, Chuck had served
thirty-six years, with over 32,500 hours of flight, covering an
estimated distance of over eight million miles. He had also had
the pleasure of flying the King of Nepal on an around-theworld
tour.

  Chuck was a happy man who always saw the positive side of
everything. He was fun; he took his family on many adventures,
and told fascinating stories of his and his father's flying
escapades. He was a voracious reader who always had his nose in a
book about aviation, history, or archeology. He liked to oil
paint, swim, dive, drive fast cars, sail and listen to bagpipes.
He was always there when his family needed him, toiled endlessly
for their care when they were sick, and made them feel like
everything would be OK no matter how bad things were.

  He is survived by his daughter, Kathlyn Auten Yearsley and
son-in-law, Greg Yearsley of Garland, Texas; his son, Charles W,
"Chip" Auten III and daughter-in-law, Kathy S. Auten of Parker,
Colo.; two grandsons, Connor Nathaniel Yearsley and Charles W.
"Skip" Auten IV, and his brother, Carl Richard "Dick" Auten of
Priest River, Idaho.

  The family received visitors at Restland Funeral Home on
Tuesday, May 2 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Services were held in the
Wildwood Chapel of Restland on Wednesday, May 3 at 3:30 p.m.