- Obituary
Dr. Charles Albert Dafoe passed on the evening of November 23rd, 2020 at Brookdale Pinehurst Park in Denver, CO.
Dr. Dafoe, known to many as Chuck, and to others as Doc, was born October 22, 1930 in Owensboro, Kentucky to Worth Dafoe and Virginia (Cook) Dafoe, of whom he was the only child. The family of three moved frequently eventually settling in Mount Pleasant, Michigan.
He attended the University of Michigan undergraduate school and graduated from the University of Michigan School of Medicine in 1956, where he also was a member of the University of Michigan Men’s Glee Club and the Galen’s Society allowing him ample opportunity to participate in music and travel.
He served as a Captain (OB/GYN) in the U.S. Air Force from July of 1957 until receiving an honorable discharge in July of 1959. He took advantage of his time at air force bases to overcome his fear of heights by pursuing and receiving his private pilot’s license.
He moved to Denver for his internship and residency, returning to Ann Arbor briefly to practice obstetrics/gynecology, but soon returning to Colorado, where he started in private practice, first with Dr. Waddell and later with Dr. Jack Thorne. He practiced obstetrics/gynecology for 40 years, delivering countless babies and helping care for hundreds of women. In addition to his medical practice, he was a member of many professional organizations including the American College of Surgeons, served as president of the Colorado Board of OB/GYN, and a longtime member of an international group of skiing gynecologists, to name a few.
His gregarious spirit and unbeatable charm led him to be loved by family, friends, colleagues, and patients alike, and really anyone who crossed his path. His care for others and earnest pursuit of goals was apparent early on. He was a proud Eagle Scout and considered himself lucky for having always known he wanted to be a doctor. An avid traveler, he visited more than 15 countries, and loved scuba diving and skiing, and served as part of the volunteer ski patrol medic team at Winter Park. His deep bass voice enriched the Colorado Choir for 30 years and the Twelfth Night shows at the University Club. He had a gift for making everyone he interacted with smile and feel important. Retirement in 1998 afforded him the luxury of indulging his passion for reading.
His love for life and those living it helped him to power through adversity with a smile and a joke on the ready as evidenced by his cheerful fight through Alzheimer’s, COPD, and even COVID-19 to arrive at his 90th birthday where he confidently proclaimed, "Another 90 would be great."
He will be missed by so many but most notably by his wife, Delores “Dee”, his children Ann Clark (Dennis), Charles (Sue), Amy (Burke), Kate (John), and Andrew (Miranda), and his grandchildren Shannon McCarthy, Allison Welsh, Elizabeth Clark, Nicholas Clark, Thomas Welsh, Claudia Krampien, Charlotte Krampien, and Aila Atkinson his great-grandchildren Kristina McCarthy and Jadyn McCarthy. His brother-in-law and sister-in-law, David and Bianca Vander Wal, and his former spouse and mother of his first three children, Lou Dafoe, also survive him.
Like so many who have passed during this time, services are postponed until public health protections allow for the celebration of life merited by his beautiful soul.
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1930 - 2020 (90 years)
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