Charles Goodyear Jr

Charles (Chuck) Beasley Goodyear, Jr was born Hugh Thomas Smith on September 30, 1943 in Augusta, Georgia. At four he was adopted by Charles and Fritzie Goodyear who were visiting the area. They surprised all the rest of their family when they arrived home from vacation with four-year-old Chuck in tow. Chuck grew up in Denver, Colorado as part of the extended Atkins clan, but in the end, he found his true family in the friends that he made along life’s way. Maya Angelou said, “Family isn’t always blood; it’s the people in your life who want you in theirs: the ones who accept you for who you are, the ones who would do anything to see you smile, and who love you no matter what.” This was certainly true for Chuck. Even his chosen career became an opportunity to broaden his chosen family through friendship. From the moment he first learned to drive he knew he wanted to be a truck driver. Over his decades of driving he was not only a valued member of each trucking company for which he worked but a good friend to those he came to know at weigh stations, stops on his route, and other truckers he worked with. When he and his wife, Connie, eventually settled in Bailey, Colorado, he knew that he had truly come home. He and his dog, Fritz, were beloved members of the community and Chuck was a regular at the Cutthroat Café. It was there he met dear friends that gave him purpose day after day. Chuck passed away peacefully at his home in Bailey, with his dog and close friends by his side.

Chuck is survived by his beloved dog, Fritz, his cousin, Barbara C. Skilling of Saratoga, WY.

Cherished friends and neighbors he grew to love in the last decades of his life.