The Archery Hall of Fame

Remembering

The Man,The Legend

Click to enlarge poem written by Diane Miller

Obituary

Glenn St.Charles, 98, author, bowyer and archery pioneer, passed away peacefully at his home, after a short illness, September 19, 2010. His children and dog, Pepper by his side. Glenn graduated in 1930 from West Seattle High School. Glenn, with wife Margaret, opened Northwest Archery Company in 1949, in Normandy Park and were In business for over 50 years. He is one of a handful credited with legitimizing the bow and arrow for big game hunting in Washington as well as the rest of the United States in the 1950's.

In 1961, Glenn founded The Pope and Young Club, North America's Bowhunting Big Game Record Keeping Organization. He was inducted into the Archery Hall of Fame in 1991. Glenn wrote two books, 'Bows on the Little Delta' and 'Billets to Bow'. He is preceded in death by his first wife of 11 years, Marjorie, and his wife of 51 years, Margaret. Survived by his 5 children, Linda St.Charles, Jay St.Charles (Karen), Suzanne St.Charles Hammond (Roger), Joe St.Charles (Cynthia) and Rochelle Hughes (William). As well as his 6 grandchildren, Robin, Erin, Adrienne, Sophia, Alex and Ben and 3 great grandchildren, Breckin, KJ and Jake.

Published in The Seattle Times on September 29, 2010

Glenn's Memorial

November 1, 2010

By Diane Miller "Moose"

As I sit in my hotel room in Seattle watching the rain pouring outside my window, I can’t help but remember being in the same room four years ago, on a different kind of mission.

On behalf of the Archery Hall of Fame I had been selected to present Glenn St. Charles with the Karl Palmatier Award of Merit. I was very honored, yet somewhat nervous, never having met Mr. St. Charles. I hoped I would meet his standards as the new Executive Director of the Archery Hall of Fame & Museum. Even though we had never met, I had heard so many stories about the famous Pope and Young founder from Seattle and I was excited to experience this first hand..

It was December 15th, his birthday and I was hoping I could make a few brownie points. Knowing he was a great hunter, I found a little moose with a bobbing head and gave it to him as soon as I entered his house. I was hoping he wouldn’t think I was being silly. I also picked up a cake, candles and all, and we celebrated his 95 birthday. He was pleasantly surprised. (and in many of our following conversations he would often speak of the little moose that sat on the mantle). After enjoying a piece of birthday cake he then insisted on showing me the sights of Seattle. On my flight home I thought how lucky I was to have been given the opportunity to meet this very special person. From that day on he called me “Moose” and that was when my journey with Glenn began.

In the four years that followed, we spoke on the phone nearly every night, He would begin by saying, “ Hi Moose, just checking in, How’s the weather there?” And then we would talk about his life growing up, his family, his hunting adventures and of course his pride and joy, the Pope and Young Club. The stories he would tell, some that maybe I shouldn’t have known but I will always remember most stories ended with his special phrase “Such a Deal,”.

Today as I sit in that same hotel watching a different rain and feeling moisture on my cheek, I am thinking this is where my journey with Glenn began and this is where my journey with Glenn will end. How fortunate I was to have had such a great opportunity.

I have just retuned from Glenn’s memorial service. What a wonderful tribute to a man who touched so many peoples lives. With his passing so passes an era. So many of us thought that he was bigger than life, that he would always be here. He has left a void that no other person will be able to fill. The eulogy read by his son Jay and written by Billy Ellis couldn't have said it any better.

"Many aspire, but few are chosen. A person becomes a legend when the strength of his character causes a whole movement to become better and stronger until it rises to a higher philosophical plain."

No words can express the pride I feel knowing that I was in his inner circle and he called me his friend. He made me see life in a different way and I am a much better person for having known him.

As I sat listening to so many people express their feelings about the man who became a legend in his own time, I happened to glance at the table behind the podium. Sitting next to a photo of Glenn and I, was, you guessed it, the little moose with the bobbing head.

“Such a Deal”

One of Archery's last pioneers is gone

Glenn St.Charles passes at 98

Many aspire but few are chosen..

Glenn St. Charles Eulogy

by Billy Ellis - November 1, 2010

The arrow is broken and so are our hearts. Our beloved founder, leader and friend, Glenn St. Charles has taken the last trail.

The old order is passing. Swiftly receding into memory are the days of strong, earnest men who followed an atavistic yearning to pit their skills against wild animals. In those bygone days to be designated "hunter’ was the highest honor that could be bestowed upon a person while today sport hunting is under constant pressure from quixotic malcontents.

Some of us have been lucky enough to briefly glimpse or share a camp fire with those living anachronisms in buckskin coats with hand made bows and gale-burned faces. Glenn St. Charles was definitely one of them.

Glenn loved to speak of by-gone days, some halcyon, some filled with struggle with the elements, but all suffused with the joy and wonder of the wilderness. Through Glenn’s tales you could wander on journeys through raw and lonely lands on man’s greatest quest; hunting the beautiful, cunning, and sometimes dangerous big game animals of North America with a bow and arrow.

To Glenn St. Charles, traditional archery and traditional values were one and the same. His life spanned the better part of this century, but he comes from a time far away. A time when a man’s word was his bond; when the quality of the finished product was more important than the wage earned; when the success of a hunting trip was measured more in warm companionship than game brought to bag.

When a kinder, gentler spirit pervaded America, God created Glenn St. Charles.

There have never been many "legends" in bowhunting history. Many aspire but few are chosen. A person becomes a legend when the strength of his character causes a whole movement to become better and stronger until it rises to a higher philosophical plain. Glenn St. Charles did that for his beloved sport of bowhunting. In this century our "legends" have been Ishi, Compton, Pope & Young, Bear and St. Charles.

Imagine now that you can hear the words of Glenn St. Charles; listen to the thunder in the mountains, the click of the caribou’s hoof and the wind sweeps the barren grounds and hear the grizzly bear’s roar.

Glenn St. Charles spoke to our hearts of those things and he will never be forgotten in the hearts of those who loved him.

Diane Miller, Glenn, & Billy Ellis at the 2007 Archery Hall of Fame Induction in Springfield Missouri

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