Gladys Charlene (Stewart) Hunter

Gladys Charlene (Stewart) Hunter, or “Charlie”, as she was most well known, 60, went to be with her God on the evening of Friday, July 30, 2010, at her home in East Wenatchee, after a long battle with Multiple Cell Myeloma.
Charlie was born on February 9, 1950, in La Grande, OR. She spent her childhood years in La Grande and graduated high school there in 1968. As a young woman, she lived in Bend, OR, Cheyenne, WY and La Grande, OR. In 1980, Charlie moved to the Wenatchee Valley with her family. In the 30 years that Charlie spent in East Wenatchee, she made a great impact in the lives of many children and their families. While raising her girls as a single mom, she had a home daycare for nearly ten years. She then became the founding Director of Grant Elementary Before and After Care Program. Through this program, she gave great care to many children, who might have otherwise been sent home alone while their parents worked. The 20 years she spent with this program was one of her proudest accomplishments. In recent years, she had the privilege of caring for the “second generation,” children whose parents she had once cared for. This brought her great joy. She enjoyed gardening and flowers and always gardened barefoot and without gloves, loving to feel the soil. One of her favorite memories in the early days of living in East Wenatchee, was caring for and selling apples from a small orchard on Sunset Highway. Charlie’s yard was always a beautiful display of brightly colored flowers, something that she took a great deal of pride in. She called gardening “her therapy” and loved sharing the fruits, vegetables and flowers with those around her. Charlie was also deeply devoted to her relationship with God and being involved in church ministry and serving The Lord through helping others. She was known around the Wenatchee Valley for her little yellow car, a 1968 Volkswagen Beetle painted Ford yellow by her beloved brother, Mackie. She had many offers and sometimes pleas to retire the car and get something “more dependable,” but she would never even consider it.
She drove the “Honey Bee” until recently, when complications from her illness prevented her from driving. Charlie will be greatly missed by those who knew and loved her.