Charles Dahl

Charles Lawrence Dahl

October 19, 1932 to February 10, 2024

When Chuck, handsome and athletic, went searching for a beautiful fellow geology student named Ann, who was rumored to hang out in the mineralogy lab at Ohio Wesleyan University, he did so with the confidence and self-assurance he would become known for throughout his life. He probably didn’t know at the time that he was beginning a 70-year adventure with Ann that would take them to all corners of the world before they came to live at the foot of their beloved Grand Teton Mountains.

Eldest of three sons, Chuck was born in Gary, Indiana and grew up outside of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania where his sense of adventure was honed by running a trap line and hunting. His mischievous nature kept his father and mother, Larry and Mildred, on their toes. Later moving to Poland, Ohio, he lettered in both football and track in high school where he had adventures with his younger brothers, Peter and Richard. 

Chuck was drafted into the Army but luck favored him, when he was arbitrarily sent to Germany as a cartographer instead of the active conflict in Korea. In 1955, he and Ann were married and in less than a week, Chuck was deployed. Ann traveled on the SS America to join him in Heidelberg where they made the most of his service time with travel throughout Europe.

 After his service, Ann and Chuck settled in Salt Lake City, Utah where he completed his masters in geology. Ann and Chuck built a life in Utah full of friends and time outdoors. They learned to ski in the Wasatch Mountains and camped and traveled throughout the west. Chuck and Ann welcomed their children, Jeffrey, Suzanne, and Kristina during this time. When the opportunity arose, they embraced the adventure of world travel with their young family. Job postings took them from Mendoza, Argentina; to Sydney and Perth, Australia; then to Miami, Florida; and finally, Houston, Texas. Chuck and Ann imbued their family with the love of the outdoors through skiing, fishing, camping and sailing. His family has fond memories of sailing adventures in the Florida Keys, Caribbean and Texas coast. 

The love of the outdoors brought them to Jackson Hole, Wyoming for retirement in 1993. They built a home with a view of the mountains and Chuck took great joy from the constant stream of friends and family arriving at his doorstep. He and Ann delighted in sharing their mutual love of
cooking with hungry guests. Chuck continued to explore and enjoy the outdoors, now imparting the outdoor connection to his daughter-in-law, Christine, his sons-in-law, Dwayne and Peter and his grandchildren Erik, Haley, Travis, Nathaniel, and Lydia. It seems he succeeded in his secret
master plan that retiring in Jackson would guarantee frequent and regular visits from family.

While geologists, by definition, collect rocks, such collections were not evident in his home. Instead, one finds collections of art and artifacts reflecting the human side of his travels across the globe. Chuck had a story for every artifact and piece of art in his home. 

Chuck and Ann engaged fully in Teton Valley life. If there was western swing or big band playing, they would be there, dancing. Chuck and Ann brought their professional and scientific expertise to the Geologists of Jackson Hole and to the Jackson Hole Astronomy Club. Chuck graciously shared his professional expertise and adventures to the community.  While he would recoil at the notion of someone calling him an activist, Chuck was acutely aware of the risks posed by the geologic faults running under Jackson Hole and he was a driving force in the effort to bring many of the Teton County school buildings within the appropriate earthquake building code requirements. 

One can’t think of Chuck without noting his robust and full career as a geologist, as he often shared amazing stories of landscapes, unique cultures and experiences. With the love of traveling, Chuck worked on five continents in over 30 countries. As a mining exploration geologist, Chuck had field opportunities of a gone-by-era that ranged from being dropped off by helicopters high in mountain ranges and mapping and sampling as he walked his way to civilization, to exploration by horse and mule trecks and escorted by military protectors in hostile environments.  Chuck worked with US Steel as a field geologist. He then joined Kennecott Copper Corp. as a research geologist in the American west and then Argentina to look for porphyry copper deposits. In 1970, he became a project manager for the exploration of the OkTedi porphyry copper deposit in Papua, New Guinea. After that he became exploration manager for Western, Southern and Northern Australia. In 1974, Chuck moved to Miami, Florida as VP of exploration for Central America and the Caribbean. In 1978, Chuck joined Exxon Minerals International (which later became Exxon Coal and Minerals) in Houston, as Chief Mining Geologist and then Exploration Manager for US and Australia. 

He was honored by the Ben F Dickerson, Ill Award by the Society of Mining Engineers for professionalism in 1993 and also awarded the Distinguished Service Award by the Mining and Engineering Division of the same society in 1994. The reader will note throughout this piece that Chuck’s name is rarely mentioned without Ann’s. For 70 years, they were a team, inseparable from beginning to end. In his later years, as his mobility declined, Ann was there for him with loving dedication, making sure he could function and have quality of life at home. Chuck was deeply honored by her efforts. Every day began and ended in front of the window looking out at their beloved Tetons. More than just an outdoorsman, Chuck was connected to nature and the wildlife in Jackson Hole including daily visitors to his yard like the gray fox. He would no doubt have cast a curious smile at the plaintive wail of the solitary gray fox in the middle of the field as Chuck was taken away from his home for the final time.

 He was a courageous and strong man, someone to admire - someone who held the roof up over his family, which he adored. We miss him terribly.   

There will be a celebration of life for family and friends this summer. In lieu of flowers, we invite you to donate to an outdoor organization of your choice.