Charles Ekvall
Charles James Ekvall died on March 1, 2024 after a short but heroic fight with pancreatic cancer.
Chuck was born in San Diego, California on July 29, 1940, to Leslie and Lula (Aitken) Ekvall.
He is survived by his wife, Teri (Couts) Ekvall, son COL (Retired) Charles J. “Jim" Ekvall and his wife LeAnn, and daughters Noelle and her husband Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Gordon Snodgrass and Cher (Smith) and her husband David. In addition, “Chuck” had three grandsons, Kristopher and Shaun Powers, and Samuel Ekvall and one granddaughter, Madelyn Ekvall.
Dr. Lesile Ekvall (Captain (Retired), U.S. Army Medical Corps) and Lula were long time residents of Dunlap, Tn. having moved to Dunlap in the mid-1960s to assist their son-in-law (Dr. Chares G. Graves) and Chuck’s sister Mary Lou in establishing a medical practice for residents of Sequatchie County and the surrounding area. In addition to his sister, Mary Lou, Chuck was preceded in death by his older brother, Dr. David Ekvall who was one of the early obstetrics practitioners in Anchorage, Ak.
Chuck’s parents were 30-year veterans of the US Navy, and as such moved often during Chuck’s childhood. He lived at various Navy Bases throughout the United States such as those in Virginia Beach, Astoria, Oregon, and in California and in such exotic places as the Panama Canal Zone and Puerto Rico. In fact, he graduated from Antilles High School in Puerto Rico before moving with his parents to Dunlap. He attended and graduated from The University of Chattanooga in 1964 with a degree in Secondary Education and a U.S. Army Reserve Officers Training Corps (ROTC) commission. One of his proud accomplishments was serving as the Officer in Charge of the Pershing Rifles during his tenure at the university.
Upon graduation, Second Lieutenant Ekvall first served as an infantry platoon leader at Fort Benning, Ga. but was quickly selected for helicopter flight training at Fort Wolters, Tx. and later at Fort Rucker, Al. Upon graduation from flight school and a follow-on course for test pilot qualification, then First Lieutenant Ekvall was assigned to the First Aviation Brigade in the Republic of Vietnam where he flew every type of mission from routine flight tests to day and night combat missions. At this time, he was rated in several helicopters, but flew the most hours in the UH-1 Iroquois (better known as the Huey) being awarded several Bronze Star and Air Medals during this tour. In 1967, he returned to his first wife, Lila (Addison) and their children moved again to various posts for continued helicopter training. During this time, he became a rated pilot for the giant CH-47 Chinook helicopter and continued training as a helicopter maintenance expert. Once he completed that training, he returned to Vietnam with the First Calvary Division (Airmobile) as a test pilot, maintenance officer, and “Joe” stick (as he called it). Again, during this time he earned several additional Bronze Star and Air Medals.
Chuck returned to the United States in 1969 and was stationed at various Army camps in a variety of helicopter and transportation-related jobs. One humorous assignment was to Fort McClellan, Al. in the early 1970s. Since there was, at the time, no such thing as a US Army aviation branch, Chuck had been assigned to the US Army Transportation Branch, one of the numerous carrier branches of Army aviation. His assignment at Fort McClellan was as a truck company commander. As he said often, he “did not know a truck from a monkey-wrench.” He survived the experience just fine and went on to assignments in Europe, the Pentagon, and throughout the United States. One of his happiest career moves occurred during this time when he was able to transfer from the US Army Transportation Corps into the new-found Army Aviation Branch.
While assigned to Fort MacArthur in Los Angeles, Ca. he met Teri. The two were married and together with Teri’s daughter Cher, made Dunlap their loving home for over 40 years following Chuck’s retirement from the Army and from the Tennessee Valley Authority where he worked as a chemical analyst.
LTC Charles Ekvall joins his father, mother and his first grandson (Caden James Ekvall, infant son of Chuck’s son and his wife) at the Chattanooga National Military Cemetery on Holtzclaw Avenue on Thursday, March 7, at 1:30 p.m. to be buried with full-military honors.
Visitation will be at the Ewton Funeral Home in Dunlap, Tn. from 2 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6. The funeral procession will depart Ewton Funeral home at 11:15 a.m. (Central Time) on Thursday.
Ewton Funeral Home & Cremation Center is in charge of arrangements for Mr. Charles Ekvall and ask that you share your memories and condolences for his family on our website at www.ewtonfuneralhome.com