Charles David Wright

Charles David Wright, 77 died on the morning of August 4, 2015, at his Mesa home, his beloved wife at his side. He was born on April 20, 1938, in Potts Creek, Virginia, where he lived as a boy. He was the second son and fourth of five children of Wilbur Alvin Wright and Mary Christine Hepler, both of Virginia. He graduated from Mesa High in 1957. He served honorably in the United States Air Force, 1957-1961, as an electrician on the B-47 Bomber, at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, in Tucson. He married Judith Muschiano. They had two children and later divorced.

In 1967, Charlie married Judith Ann Elgas, of Mesa, his ideal match. They built a house in Mesa and made it a wonderful home for their four children: David, Jim, Steven, and Cara. Charlie was an electrician for the City of Mesa and was an electrical contractor and sole proprietor of CW Electric. He was also a car builder, restoring to perfection several vintage 1930’s-50’s cars and trucks. Through his profession, his hobby and his life he instilled in his children a sense of pride in workmanship and the soul-building value of hard work, traits learned from his father.

Like his mother, he was forthright. He didn’t know the meaning of passive-aggressive and expected directness in return. He responded to nonsense with furrowed brow and squinted blues eyes, asking, “What does that mean?” That’s when his kids knew they’d lost the debate. He was good-natured, loyal, generous, inquisitive and highly skilled, with an engineer’s mind and surgeon’s hands. He had a keen sense of humor, cultivated from the kind of story telling you’d expect from someone with deep roots in Virginia’s Allegheny Mountains. With his wife of nearly 48 years and children who adored and respected him, and the many friends who loved him, he was a rich man indeed. He underwent a heart transplant in 1994. His family and friends were thus fortunate to have him for an extra 21 years. We were blessed to have him as our father. He is the best man we’ve ever known. We love you, Dad.

He leaves behind his loving wife and children, his sisters, Elizabeth Wright and Alice Wright, seven grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, cousins, nephews, nieces and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, his sister Marion, and his brother Wilbur (aka “Sonny”).

His family thanks Drs. Gurmit Sandhu, Jack Copeland and Santosh Rao, the heart specialists who saved and then extended his life with great care and skill. Thank you also to the family that donated their son’s robust heart. That priceless gift gave us much joy.

For interment, we are taking Charlie home. His ashes will be buried at the Lone Star Baptist Church Cemetery, in Potts Creek, near many of his ancestors. There, his headstone- already engraved with a 1938 Ford Coupe-stands sentinel.

A Celebration of Life will be held Saturday, August 15, 2015 at 11:00am at Lakeshore Mortuary, 1815 S. Dobson Rd. Mesa, AZ 85202.