Charles E. Trush

Dr. Charles E. “Chuck” Trush died March 25, 2011, in Lynwood, Wash., where he and his wife, Ruth, have resided since early 2008.

He was born Jan. 14, 1926, to Emil and Caroline Trush in Waukesha, Wisc. He graduated from Carroll College and got his medical degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he met his one love, Ruth Marion Rincker. They were married June 18, 1949.

After completing his medical training, they moved to Kalispell, Mont., to open his first practice, which was promptly interrupted with a call to military service as a Navy officer in the Korean War. Returning to Kalispell after the war, he re-established his practice and raised his family.

Chuck was an intrepid adventurer who found the Flathead Valley the ideal place to experience it all. Hiking in Glacier National Park and snow skiing on Big Mountain Resort became two of his passions. He never turned down an opportunity to experience something new, from hunting and fishing to flying an airplane.

An active and faithful member of Trinity Lutheran Church, he was one of too few who tried to live his life as he felt God would have wanted him to. Willing to make house calls to the sick and his generosity to those who could not afford, set him a part from many other physicians. In 1980, they moved to Malta, Mont., until 1982, when he decided to follow his childhood dream of making Alaska, The Last Frontier, his home.

He continued private practice in Alaska, along with participating in medical missions in South and Central America, Africa and Mongolia. He concluded his professional career in locum tenens throughout Alaska and much of the Lower 48.

He is survived by his beloved wife of 61 years, Ruth; daughters, Amy Henry and Gayle (Brian) Bourke; sons, David (Annie), Paul (Donna) and John Trush; grandchildren, Nathan, Alina and Jason Henry, Hayden, Bennett and Boone Bourke, Kyla Trush, and Danielle, Brandon and Paxton Trush; sister, Marian Doody; and niece, Eva Bellinger.

In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations in Chuck’s memory to Medical Ministry International, P.O. Box 1339, Allen, Texas 75013, or online at mmint.org. A celebration of Chuck’s Life will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., July 30 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Kalispell.