Charles McDonnell

Charley McDonnell, beloved husband, father, grandfather, teacher and friend, passed away Saturday, May 2, 2026. Charley was a second generation Colorado native born in Denver on February 23, 1950. He graduated from Wheat Ridge High School and worked toward his bachelor's degree from Colorado State University while raising his two daughters, Amy and Katy, with his then wife Susan (Hodges) and working construction. 

Charley's goal was to become a teacher, so he earned his teaching license and became a social studies teacher at Arvada High School, where he taught for almost twenty years. In the early eighties, Charley recognized the important role computers would play in schools. He thus enrolled in a newly created master's degree program "Computers in Education" from Lesley College. He later became an instructor for the Lesley Outreach Program across the country. Charley used his new expertise to establish the first computer lab at Arvada High School - with Apple's IIE's, no less! So successful was he at teaching computer skills that one of his students created a reasonable facsimile of his report card. Unfortunately, the student gave himself all A's, raising suspicions. An A in computer skills, but an F in humility!

It was at Arvada High School that Charley met his true love and kindred spirit Pam. They married and worked together on the core team to open Dakota Ridge High School where Pam established the library program and Charley coordinated the Social Studies Department. There they continued their collaboration to weave information literacy skills into the social studies content and to build interdisciplinary programs.

Upon retiring from Dakota Ridge, Charley honed his cooking skills and enjoyed testing those skills on family and friends at home. He and Pam traveled to almost two thirds of the National Parks, alone or with friends and family. They took several trips to Europe, including a lively stay at a Tuscan villa with dear friends and the three dogs that lived on the grounds. But his most fascinating and unique journey was with a friend to Vietnam and Cambodia. 

Perhaps the best perk of retirement, though, was the time it gave Charley to slow down, take time to pet their wonderful cats, and not define anything as "wasting time." Indeed, Charley and Pam could fill hours laughing and playing off each other's ideas - whether serious, silly or absurd. They once spent a few hours coming up with a new non-phonetic NATO alphabet with such words as C as in czar and X as in xylophone. 

Charley was preceded in death by his parents Claude and Dodie McDonnell; his son-in-law Gary "Ordy" Garrison (Kate's husband); and his brothers-in-law Martin Stackhouse and Don "Chip" Durocher.

He is survived by his wife Pamela (Stackhouse); his cherished daughters Amy Travers (Kevin) and Katie (Katy) Garrison; his precious grandchildren Emily and Caleb Travers; his dear sister-in-law Barbara Durocher; and several "niblings" and "grandniblings" (hokey, but easier than saying nieces and nephews!). Charley also sadly left behind many treasured friends, including his hoodlum golf buddies, the C.R.A.F.T. Club Trivia group, colleagues, neighbors, and even friends from childhood. The many beautiful notes sent to him during his illness buoyed his spirits and showed just how much he was loved.

Finally, a word about Charley's character: Not only was he intelligent and witty; he was also kind, forgiving and loyal. He could have you laughing until you cried - but never at another person's expense. Contrary to the stereotype of an only child (of an only-child mother, at that), Charley always thought of other people's needs and feelings. A friend perfectly expressed our feelings about Charley's passing: "A little piece of all of us went with him."

In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to the Food Bank of the Rockies here or the Foothills Animal Shelter here. 

A location for a Celebration of Life will be published later.