White Rock has lost a longtime member of its uptown business community, with the death this week of Penguin Meats manager and head meat-cutter, Doug Charles.
According to a Facebook post, Charles, 63, died Monday night.
“He passed peacefully in his sleep surrounded by his loved ones,” the post states. “It was an 8 year battle with cancer and he fought until the end.
“He really appreciated all of the visitors, messages, support and love that he received over the past few weeks.”
Charles, a father of three, started with Penguin Meats nearly 50 years ago, and worked his way up from “a clean-up kid in the back” to a meat-cutter, to retail manager.
A tribute on the store’s website describes Charles as “loved by many, many people, not only his family and friends, but all the people in the community he made an impact with through his career.”
“He will be incredibly missed.”
Facebook commenters describe Charles as a “loving caring person who loved his family with all his being… time will help heal the pain but love will always keep him close in our hearts.”
“We all have wonderful memories of the time we were lucky to share with Doug… may he rest in peace,” adds Rod-Penny Smith.
“Doug was part of our extended family for only a short time but his gentle loving ways will be remembered a lifetime,” writes Kathy Hicks Lawler.
Charles is survived by his wife, Toni – daughter of Penguin Meats’ owners Vic and Irene Michaluk – and their children Ryan, Brody and Troy.
A celebration of life is to be announced.
