Charles L. Whipkey was born in Connellsville, Pa., to Cecil and Effie (Leichleiter) Whipkey on May 18, 1928. He passed away March 10, 2005 at Victor Valley Hospital. He was the third of 14 children. Charley lived in Pennsylvania until leaving to join the Army in 1950. He was a demolitionÕs expert in Korea and was honorably discharged in 1952. After returning to the United States he moved to California. Once there, he worked at a number of occupations before settling on driving a truck.He met and married the late Dorothy (Wolfe) Whipkey in 1958. They had three children. In 1973, the family moved to Barstow when Charley was transferred with Yellow Freight. In 1976, he and Dottie purchased the Topper Motel, which they successfully ran until the sold it in 1988, at which time they retired to spend more time with their children and grandchildren.Charley took care of his wife when she was diagnosed with AlzheimerÕs Disease until her passing in Sept. 2004.Charley was preceded in death by his wife of 46 years, Dottie, who was the light of his life; his parents, Cecil and Effie Whipkey; brothers, Louis Paul, Rausel, Rayburn, Lee, and Earl; and sisters, Jennie May and Revy Woods.He is survived by his children, Star (Bob) Ott, Charles William (Kim) Whipkey, and Kimberly (John) Crowley; nine grandchildren, Bobby Ott, Catherine Ott, and Sarah Ott, Charles William (Billy) Whipkey, Andrew Whipkey and Phillip Whipkey, Alexa Bookhart, Caitlyn Crowley and Courtney Crowley; brother, Edward Whipkey; sisters, Betty Grimm, Bernadine Etling, Anna (Kitty) Kelly, Helen Martini, and Cecile (Sissy) Dietrich; and numerous nieces and nephews.A Celebration of Life was held at the home of his daughter, Star Ott, on Saturday, March 19, 2005 at 5 p.m.