Originally published May 28, 2024. Updated on June 5 with Memorial Service information.
By Lorna Valdez
President Emeritus, North Beach PAWS
A wonderful friend and supporter of North Beach PAWS passed away recently. Charlie Utterback and his lovely wife Ann (who passed last year) donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to North Beach PAWS. In 2019 they donated $85,000 from their IRAs to help pay off our mortgage. It saved us interest on our loan and freed up more capital to assist with running our all-volunteer shelter and caring for more animals.
In 2020, the Utterbacks donated $7,000 to help pay for roof repairs for the doghouse and offered a $100,000 matching fund opportunity to replace revenue generated from our weekly garage sales during the global COVID-19 pandemic. Due to many generous donations from our supporters and other fundraising events, we raised $95,465. The Utterbacks donated $83,000 in September of 2020 and the balance in January of 2021. That fundraising effort was used for building repairs, deferred maintenance improvements, veterinarian bills, and other general expenses and helped pay for a badly needed asphalt driveway which now runs from the entrance at SR 109 to the Cat and Dog Shelters and goes completely around the barn. We resolved some serious drainage issues and replaced some windows in the cat shelter, making it more energy-efficient. We also were able to add some badly needed parking spaces to the property to accommodate customers shopping at the Garage Sale and coming to adopt cats and dogs from the shelter.
Charlie and Ann offered a second matching funds opportunity in 2021. They committed up to $85,000 to offset some of the loss of funding caused by so many COVID-related cancellations including our annual Dinner Auction. Thanks to that campaign, we were able to afford a beautiful new highway sign, a cashier’s shed, and two storage units at the back of the barn.
We really appreciate Charlie and Ann Utterback's generosity and enthusiastic support of North Beach PAWS, and we are eternally grateful to them. Charlie also helped numerous small business owners survive the COVID shutdowns and handed thousands of dollars to employees at Ocean Shores IGA and Ace Hardware and other businesses and organizations, including churches. He once told me that he wanted to give back to those in need and to causes he believed in and wanted to support due to how blessed he felt in the financial success he had enjoyed during his lifetime. He loved sharing his wisdom with others and helping many businesses in the Ocean Shores community obtain financial assistance through his company, Utterback Lending LLC.
Charlie had a sharp wit and was a very intelligent and kind soul. He could be seen walking along Point Brown Avenue with the assistance of two ski poles to meet his wife, Ann, for breakfast every morning. He celebrated his 90th birthday in December and I heard he twice went skydiving this past year. Charlie was an interesting person to converse with and
an inspiration to everyone who knew him. It was apparent he wanted to leave the
world a better place, and loved his wife Ann very much, having supported her in designing
and building her dream home before she passed in 2023.
Charlie particularly loved the cats that he adopted from North Beach PAWS. He and Ann donated two large, framed puzzles featuring animals that they assembled which are currently on display at our Cat Shelter and enjoyed by everyone who visits.
Charlie and Ann will be fondly remembered, especially by those of us at North Beach PAWS, and the hundreds of animals who were saved and have benefitted from their generosity and love. God Bless them both for leaving this world a better place!
A memorial service honoring Ann and Charlie Utterback is scheduled for Saturday, July 13, from 1-3 p.m. at Galilean Lutheran Church, 824 Ocean Shores BLVD NW, in Ocean Shores.
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