Charles Edwin Noddin, 83, entered into eternal life with his Lord and Savior on Tuesday, July 18, 2023, at his home in Centralia, Washington. He passed peacefully and was blessed to have his stepdaughter Joni Freeman at his side. As his health failed, Joni helped tremendously with all of the daily activities he could not do, and he was very appreciative of all of her efforts, as were his daughters who all reside out of state.
Ed was born in Canada and grew up in Massachusetts and Maine. He is survived by his sister, Glenna Coe; three daughters, Eva Gigandet, Michelle McGehee and Cheryl Bacon; his only grandchild, Gabriella Harrison; and his great-granddaughter, Gwen Harrison.
As a young adult, he served a short tour in the National Guard. From that moment on, he worked hard all his life, first fixing cars and pumping gas, then as an employee for Boeing, and finally the Centralia Coal Mine as a large machine field mechanic. He loved his vanilla ice cream and shakes, and in later years was happiest training the neighborhood squirrels to come up on the porch and eat out of his hand.
His mechanical talent was unparalleled. There wasn't a machine that he couldn't figure out or a garage sale that he could pass up. He taught his oldest daughter, Eva, how to build and work on cars at a young age and was always creating or fixing something. He built many structures on the farm in Onalaska, Washington, where he raised his family, including the horse barn where Michelle and Cheryl kept the horses they loved.
His last wish was to have his ashes taken to the family plot in St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, to be buried with his little dog, Mocha, next to his parents, Harold and Irene Noddin, and his sister, Evelyn Dickson.
