Carl F. "Charlie" Koehler

Carl F. "Charlie" Koehler died September 8, 2016, in Fallbrook, Calif., after a long illness.

Born July 13, 1938, in Buffalo, N.Y., Charlie devoted his life to service. After graduating from Hobart College in 1960, Charlie entered the U.S. Air Force as a commissioned officer, serving in the Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebr., where he was a member of the SAC Elite Guard and Air Police.

After receiving an honorable discharge, Charlie returned as a newlywed to his hometown of Buffalo to manage the long-held family business, Klein’s Sausages and Meats. A few years later, Charlie fulfilled a lifelong goal by joining the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

After graduating as a special agent from the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., Charlie was assigned to field offices in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Alexandria, Va. While at Alexandria, Charlie was one of two special agents selected to open a new resident agency in Manassas, Va. – then a small but growing, rural town outside of Washington, D.C.

After successfully establishing the Manassas office, Charlie was assigned to FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., where he completed training as an expert document examiner. His work and expert testimony supported many investigations during the 1970s, including the Patty Hearst kidnapping, the disputed wills following the death of billionaire Howard Hughes, and many bank robberies, kidnappings and other federal crimes.

Following his time at headquarters, Charlie was assigned as supervisory special agent of the Mount Clemens, Mich., FBI office, an extension of the Detroit Division. He then was assigned to lead Detroit’s white-collar crime division, and later served as the bureau’s member of the Great Lakes Narcotics Task Force. Charlie rounded out his FBI career as a member of the Detroit Division’s surveillance team prior to retiring from the Bureau in 1995.

Charlie was known for his frequent smile, jovial nature, love of classic automobiles (never just “cars”), steam locomotives, a good dessert (or two), steadfast devotion to the corniest of jokes and a particular fondness for over-the-top, classic country-western music – one trait his surviving children are especially grateful not to have inherited.

Charlie is survived by a son, Carl K. (Deborah) Koehler, of Florence, S.C.; daughters Anne (Tim) Hay of Chesterfield Township, Mich., Susan (Tim) Gross, of Fallbrook, Calif., and Gretchen Campbell of Aurora, Colo.; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Surviving family members also include a brother, Kim R. (Elaine) Koehler, of Boca Raton, Fla.; a sister, Michelle (Monte) Albanese of Fayetteville, N.Y., and many nieces and nephews.

Charlie was predeceased by his father, Chester (Elizabeth “Betty”) Koehler, and mother, Marjorie Klein Koehler.

The family wishes to express its deepest gratitude to the many doctors, nurses and caregivers for their care of our father throughout his illness.

For those wishing to offer their respects to his memory, the family asks that a donation be made in Charlie’s name to The Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, FBI Memorial College Fund, in memory of Special Agent (Ret.) Carl “Charlie” Koehler.