Charles "Chuck" Carlson

Charles Ellsworth Carlson

Chuck was born Feb.21, 1930 on a farm in Spruce Hill Township, Douglas Co. MN and died June 4, 2024 in Maplewood MN – at the age of 94. His family moved to Minneapolis when he was 5 years old. He attended schools in Minneapolis; graduated from Roosevelt High School in 1948 & then attended and graduated in 1950 from Dunwoody Industrial Institute, taking the machine shop/tool & die course, which became his primary career. 

His first job as a tool & die maker was with Collins Radio in Cedar Rapids Iowa. There he was fortunate to work on a project that was the forerunner to communications with the moon. He machined the surface of a 50-foot diameter dish, made in pie shaped sections of aluminum castings. The dish is similar to what we see today as the 5 to 8 foot diameter TV dishes. After machining it was dismantled, the sections reassembled on the Navy Building Roof in Washington DC. There it was used to bounce radio waves off the moon & relay radio transmission. Unfortunately the dish only lasted a year as the heating expansion & shrinking by sun caused the metal to fatigue and break. However much was learned, designs and materials were changed & today we have satellites because of the work he did early in his career. 

While working at Collins for 3 years he married his teenage sweetheart, Geraldine (Gerry) Palmer at English Lutheran Church in Alexandria. They met in Alexandria as teenagers; were engaged on Mother’s Day 1951, and married Sept 9, 1951. After a few years in Iowa, they moved back to the Minneapolis area to raise their growing family in Fridley. Chuck worked in many tool & die shops (one of which machined all the Tonka truck toys) until April of 1978. 

With three of the four children out of the house, Chuck and Gerry purchased a resort in Glenwood, MN (Kahldahl Resort). They ran the resort (16 cabins) until January 1990. Not being of retirement age he once again returned to the Twin City area & worked in his tooling profession. In July 1996 he retired returning to his roots in Douglas County “GODS COUNTRY” on Lake Moses, Brandon. Later in 2012, he and Gerry would move from their lake home – to The Village in Alexandria. In Oct 2023, Chuck moved to Arden Hills to a location that was closer to his children.

Chuck was active in supporting the community including being a scoutmaster, President of Fridley Jaycee chapter, President of the resort association, Pope Co. director on Vikingland Tourism area, Chairman of the Long Beach Planning & Zoning committee, President and other roles in the Brandon Lions as well as the Millerville Sportsman’s Club. Chuck as also an avid and successful hunter using bow and arrow, rifle and black powder rifle as tools to fell many varieties of animals, especially deer.

Preceding Chuck in death was his wife Gerry of over 68 years of marriage, his parents (Everett and Hazel (Hanson) Carlson) and in laws (Roy and Cora (Bergner) Palmer), his two brothers Har and Ken, and brother in law Dale Palmer. 

Chuck is survived by his four children and their spouses: Regan Carlson (Jeff Hinz), Laura Jaworski (Bill), Julie Carlson (Daniel Cox), and Steven (Theresa) Carlson; five grandchildren, Gina, Tyler, Brett, Colin and Clayton; four great-grandsons, William, Jonathan, Keenan and Ethan; and many other relatives including nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of life will be held September 14, 2024 @11am (visitation starts at 10am) at the Anderson Funeral Home located at 659 Voyager Dr NW, Alexandria MN 56308 320-219-6278 andersonfuneral.net

In Iieu of Flowers – a donation in memory of Chuck would be appreciated to one of the charities that were close to his heart: