Carl G. Meserve of Buckley and Bonney Lake passed away on New Year’s Day at the age of 97. He was born in Sandpoint, Idaho on May22, 1926, to Carl R. and Alta (Plato) Meserve, the second of three sons.
Carl graduated from high school in 1943, just days after his 17th birthday. He started college at the University of Idaho but was drafted at the conclusion of his freshman year. He served in Italy during World War II and was able to resume his studies after his Army discharge. He signed up for Air Force R.O.T.C. so that he “would never have to be an Army private again”. Smart thinking, since he was called up again for military service during the Korean War.
Carl was set up on a blind date with Peggy Kateron, also a Sandpoint High School graduate and U of I student. Tey were married in a snowstorm in Sandpoint in December 1949. Carl graduated from the College of Engineering in 1950 but as a reserve officer was sent to Neah Bay. After the Korean War ended in 1953, he began his career in the aerospace industry, first with Douglas Aircraft in Los Angeles and then with the Boeing Company. Boeing sent Carl (and his family) to Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, North Dakota again, New Mexico and Colorado with intermittent returns to Seattle. In 1971, he returned to the northwest for the last time. He and Peggy lived in Bellevue until they relocated to Buckley in 1995. Tere, they were active in the Spinners Square Dance Club, the Buckley Senior Center and Community Presbyterian Church. Carl climbed Mt. Rainier at age 60, fulfilling a lifelong dream.
Carl was preceded in death by his wife of 68 years, Mary Margaret (Peggy) Kateron Meserve, his parents, his two brothers Robert and Stan and his longtime friends and hunting partners. He is survived by his three daughters: Christina, Dianne, and Marlene, and his sons-in-law Charles Szurszewski, James Anderson and William Jenkins. He is also survived by grandchildren Joshua (Laura) Szurszewski and Kevin (Genevieve Carnes) Meserve, Kathryn and Erik Anderson, Brooke Jenkins and Abigail and Cameron (Claire) Haslam as well as great-grandchildren Jeremiah Szurszewski and Sawyer and Baker Meserve.
Our dad loved playing cards, hunting, airplanes, travel, reading, World War II and Hallmark movies and monitoring the stock market. He called his Honor Flight to Washington D.C. in 2016 one of the greatest experiences of his life. He spent his final Meserve Family Christmas surrounded by family.
A memorial service will be held at Community Presbyterian Church of Buckley on February 21, 2024 at 11:00 a.m. In lieu of flowers, the family would appreciate donations to the Buckley Kiwanis Food Bank, Puget Sound Honor Flight or a charity of your choice.
