Charlene Mae Carnachan

Charlene M. Carnachan, 93, of Denver, CO, died Saturday, May 28, 2022, peacefully at home of complications from Parkinson's Disease. She was born in Los Angeles, CA on December 10, 1928 to Beatrice and Charles Cron. She grew up in the Atwater Village neighborhood of Los Angeles and graduated from John Marshall High School in 1946. Charlene attended UCLA, where she earned an A.A. degree in 1948.

Charlene met Bruce Cole Carnachan, whose parents lived two houses away from her on Madera Avenue, and began a courtship that culminated in their marriage on September 22, 1949 at the Silver Lake Presbyterian Church. Bruce had recently served in the Army Air Corps in China and Burma during World War II. Following their marriage, Charlene and Bruce both continued their post-secondary education while juggling various jobs. Charlene completed her B.A. degree and went on to earn her M.A. degree at Cal State L.A. in 1954. After a few years spent living in the Sunset Beach neighborhood of San Diego, the couple returned to Los Angeles and Charlene began a career in teaching, starting at John H. Francis Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley. They bought their first home in 1962 in the hills of northeast Los Angeles. Their son Robert was born in 1965 at the same Echo Park hospital where Charlene had been born. Upon resuming her professional career, Charlene began teaching at Los Angeles City College in Hollywood, where she would remain until her retirement in 1994. During Charlene's career at LACC, she served as chair of the Business Administration department for several years and taught a generation of students the fundamentals of workplace skills. Bruce and Charlene moved to Glendale in 1976, where they would remain until Charlene relocated to Denver, CO in 2018 to be near her son and daughter-in-law.

Charlene and Bruce were active in a variety of automobile clubs in the Los Angeles area and participated in countless car rallies, historic car races, and car shows. They owned a 1954 Jaguar XK120 for 59 years, which received many awards and publicity in auto magazines, advertisements, and films. Travel was another interest, and Charlene and Bruce enjoyed many trips across the United States in their motorhome as well as trips abroad to Europe, Egypt, Greece, China, Peru, Mexico, Australia, and New Zealand. In 1993, they were part of a 449th Air Force Association group invited to Taiwan by the National Chinese Retired Air Force, in appreciation of their service to China during WWII. Post-retirement, Charlene also devoted her energies to several organizations, including the American Association of University Women (where she served as Glendale Chapter President), the P.E.O. Sisterhood, and a local investment club, the Million Dollar Belles. She also remained active in the Emeriti organization for LACC.

Charlene was predeceased by her parents and husband (2017). She is survived by her sister Carol Hurst of Huntington Beach, CA, her son and daughter-in-law Robert Bruce Cron Carnachan (Pamela Packer), nieces Louise Carnachan and Debra Hurst, nephew Charles Hurst, grandnieces Paige Buss and Shawn O'Day, and grandnephews Blake Buss and Will Buss.

A memorial service to celebrate Charlene's well-lived life will be held Wednesday, June 15, 11 a.m., at the First United Methodist Church of Glendale, 134 North Kenwood Street, Glendale. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the P.E.O. Foundation, https://donations.peointernational.org/peo-donation-foundation or to the American Association of University Women, https://my.aauw.org/donation-product-detail .