Charles Richard Plante

May 21, 1940 – Jan. 26, 2022

Charles Plante, 81, passed away peacefully on Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2022 at South Peninsula Hospital in Homer, Alaska after having spent the day surrounded by his family and his wife of 60 years, Elaine.

Charlie was born May 21, 1940 in Northbridge, Massachusetts, the son of Agnes (Hyland) Plante and Charles J. Plante of Whitinsville, Massachusetts. Charlie cherished his upbringing in the mill town of Whitinsville, playing football and basketball for the local high school and later for community leagues.

After a brief stint at Whitin Machine Works where his father and grandfather had worked for decades, Charlie attended Worcester Junior College and later the University of Hartford and worked at Draper Corporation in Hopedale, Massachusetts until getting hired on in 1963 at Pratt & Whitney in Hartford, Connecticut.

Charlie married his high school sweetheart, Elaine Lortie, in September 1961, and they lived in East Hartford for several years before buying their 19th century farmhouse in Stafford, Connecticut, where they raised their three children until the late 1970s.

In 1979, the family moved to San Diego (Santee), California where Charlie worked as a Manufacturing Engineer in the defense industry for the next 25 years for various corporations such as Chemtronics (El Cajon, California), General Dynamics (San Diego), Boeing (Seattle, Palmdale), and NASA (New Orleans). In 2005, he retired and he and Elaine moved to Zephyrhills, Florida and enjoyed 10 years of golf, travel, social activities and friendships in the Southport Springs senior community.

In his later years, Charlie enjoyed genealogy, reading, history and politics, putzing around his shed, and visiting with family. He and Elaine moved to Homer, Alaska in 2015 to be closer to their youngest daughter’s family.

Charlie is survived by his wife, Elaine; daughter, Cheryl (John) Menard of Santee, California; son, John (Laura) Plante of Santee, CA; daughter, Colleen (AlRay) Carroll of Homer, Alaska; and six beloved granddaughters: Brooke, Halle, Gabrielle Plante; Monique and Celine Menard; and Cassidy Carroll, along with many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his cherished sister, Judy (Catherine Roy).

Charlie was a devoted husband, loving father, and had a wonderfully sarcastic sense of humor that all of his family enjoyed. A Celebration of Life will be held at a later date in San Diego, California. Any donations in his honor may be made to Hospice of Homer.