James Coulter

Captain Charles A. Coulter III, USAF (Ret) passed away peacefully December 25, 2022 at his home in Sun City, Arizona He was born July 2, 1933 in Tacoma, Washington. He was preceded in death by his parents Charles A. Coulter Jr and Marguerite Flynn Coulter and his sister Sherill Theisen. He is survived by his wife Audrey and his sons James and Charles. He attended public schools in Tacoma. He graduated from R.A. Long high school in Longview, Washington in 1951. He attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon for one year then enlisted in the United States Air Force. He was trained as a Morse Systems Intercept Operator. His first assignment after training was to the 37th Radio Squadron Mobile at Royal Air Force Kirknewton near Edinburgh, Scotland. He met his wife Audrey in Edinburgh. They were married in 1955 and returned to the United States. He worked for the Boeing Company for a period before reenlisting in the Air Force with an assignment to Bingen, Germany. After four years in Germany he was reassigned to Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada. He applied to and was accepted for Officer Candidate School. He was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in December 1960. Assignments in Arizona, Alaska and Ohio followed. He was assigned to Vietnam in 1968 where he was the commander of the 3rd Transportation Squadron at Bien Hoa Air Base, returning in 1969 for his last assignment at McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington. He retired from the Air Force in 1972 at the rank of captain. After retiring from the Air Force he began a career as an examiner with the Washington State auditors office. The family moved to the small community of Boston Harbor near Olympia, Washington. Charles bought a sailboat and used it for family vacations on Puget Sound and also raced it. He was active with the South Sound Sailing Society and the Olympia Yacht Club. Charles and Audrey traveled the country in their RV spending at least one night in 46 of the 48 contiguous states. In 2000 he and Audrey moved to Sun City, Arizona. He played trombone with the Sun City Pops band. He obtained his private pilot license and achieved an instrument rating. Charles was a lifelong amateur radio operator.operating with the call signs W7SZM and W7CAC. The family asks in lieu of flowers to make a donation to your favorite animal rescue organization.