May 1, 1931- January 18, 2026
Long-time San Juan Island resident Charlie Bodenstab passed away on January 18, 2026, surrounded by family. Charlie is survived by his wife Donna Martin, his four children, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
Charlie was a first-generation American born in New York City. He was a voracious student at Brooklyn Tech High School and then at Lehigh University, where he received an engineering degree. He served in the US Army in Europe, lived much of his life on the East Coast, moved to Minnesota, and finally retired to the San Juan Islands in 1999.
During his professional career, Charlie was an early pioneer of applying computers, a new technology in the 1950s, to solve large-scale business problems. He went on to become a successful business executive, holding several C-level leadership roles at large companies. He later purchased and ran his own distribution business, served as an adjunct contributor to Inc. magazine, and wrote two books on business and inventory management.
Upon retiring, Charlie moved to San Juan Island and became an active volunteer and benefactor to several island organizations, including the Spring Street International School, Friday Harbor Animal Protection Society, and the San Juan Islands Sculpture Park. Charlie served on the San Juan Preservation Trust Board of Directors, the San Juan County Economic Development Council (EDC) Board of Directors, as Board President of the San Juan Islands Museum of Art (IMA), and as Commodore of the San Juan Yacht Club. In all his roles, he brought his business and leadership experience as well as his dedication to leaving a lasting legacy to the island community.
When not being productive, you would find Charlie dancing, entertaining at his beautiful home looking over the Strait of Juan de Fuca, boating, playing with his animals, and most of all – sharing his love and kindness.
A Celebration of Life will be held in Charlie’s honor on July 19th at the San Juan Island Yacht Club.
For anyone wishing to honor Charlie’s legacy, the family requests that donations be sent to Make A Donation | Alzheimer’s Association, https://www.alz.org/get-involved-now/donate.
