Charles Harding Meacham

Charles Harding Meacham (Chuck) of Gig Harbor, WA, and Alaska passed away March 2, 2024 at the age of 98. He was predeceased by his wife of 74 years, June L. Meacham (Yunker).

Chuck was born September 21, 1925 in Newman, CA and raised in the high Sierra Nevada Mountains at 7,600 feet elevation, where his father hand-built a hunting and fishing lodge near Mammoth mountains. With the outbreak of World War II, at age 17, he enlisted in the Marine Corps and fought with the elite Marine Raiders Special Forces in the South Pacific including campaigns at Bougainville/Puruata, Emirau, Guam, and Okinawa. His Marine Raider experiences did much to shape the rest of his life.

After the war he returned to finish high school and then married June L. Yunker on June 22, 1946. They honeymooned by pack mule in the Ansel Adams Wilderness Area in the Sierra Nevada mountains at elevations between 9,000-10,000 ft.

Chuck used the GI Bill to attend college. Upon graduating from Utah State College he worked as a biologist with California Department of Fish and Game. He later moved to the Territory of Alaska in 1956 where he worked as a fishery biologist. With statehood, he was instrumental in forming the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, ultimately serving in the Governor’s office as Director of International Fisheries and External Affairs where he was heavily involved in creation of the international Law of the Sea.

Thereafter Chuck was invited to Washington D.C where he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Fish & Wildlife and National Park Service. While private consulting, he moved to Sequim, WA, and later retired in Gig Harbor, WA.

Chuck is survived by sons Charles P. Meacham and wife Charlene Meacham, and Bruce H. Meacham and wife Kathy Meacham, four grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

He requested there be no services and that his and June’s ashes be spread in the Sierra Nevada mountains. For those who choose to honor his life he requested (1) a donation to the Marine Raider Association (or send check to MRA, 1855 Kanawha Trail, Stone Mountain, GA 30087) or (2) the Alaska Chapter American Fisheries Society, Student Travel Fund (Text message to 44-321 and include STUDENTTRAVEL as a message or send check to: AFS Student Travel, 1614 Tanaga Avenue, Kenai, AK 99611).