Charles (Charlie) Martin McJilton of Longmont, Colorado passed away August 1, 2025, at the age of 56 after battling esophageal cancer.
Charlie was born in Illinois on June 22nd, 1969. Marilyn had prayed for a little brother and got her wish. Two years later his parents moved him, along with his two sisters, Deborah and Marilyn, to a large home with many acres of land in Colorado where he grew up.
Charlie’s family was active in 4H and raised sheep, cows, chickens and ducks. Ducks were Charlie’s favorite. Charlie helped to take care of the animals and tended to the garden when he was not playing with friends or bothering his sisters.
Growing up, Charlie was active in sports but enjoyed soccer the most. However, he liked to bicycle places with his friends. He started playing cello in junior high and played it through his years in college. In high school, his father bought a home computer as a kit that he and Charlie assembled together and learned to program.
Charlie attended Colorado State University and received his bachelor degree in Computer Science. Along the way he met his future wife, Rebecca, as they were stand partners in the orchestra cello section.
After Rebecca finished her doctor of veterinary medicine degree, Charlie and Rebecca were married in October of 1996 and began to create a home for their family consisting entirely of dogs and cats, mostly rescues needing homes. Charlie continued his career in software engineering for almost 35 years before retiring at the age of 55.
Charlie is preceded in death by his father Charles, and his mother Elizabeth. He is survived by his wife, Rebecca, his two sisters, Deborah and Marilyn, and his aunt Diantha and her wife Joanne. There will be no service or celebration of life. Anyone who would wish to make a donation in his name, please consider the local food banks or humane societies.
Addendum:
Not many people write their own obituary but my husband Charles did. He wrote a wonderful fact sheet but I would like you to know how truly funny and wonderful he was. Always looking for a laugh, he enjoyed numerous stand up comedians (shout outs to Nate Bargetze, Jim Gaffigan, Tom Papa and Kathleen Madigan – if you like these comedians, you and Charles are kindred spirits), funny movies (is there anyone who doesn’t like The Princess Bride, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation – yearly ritual – Galaxy Quest or Monty Python and The Holy Grail?), and funny TV shows (“Doh!” “Kiss my shiny metal ass.” – if you know, you know).
Like the dog Dug in the movie Up – “squirrel!” – Charles moved from one hobby to the next as nearly everything seemed to catch his attention. Many hobbies ditched along the way as he found new ones, various items were packed away unless they couldn’t be (did you know fish become immortal when you no longer want them?) However, there were hobbies he clung to and never gave up such as roasting his own coffee (starting with using our air popcorn popper before I bought him his own roaster to save the popper from ruin – plus it gave a better roast!), playing guitar (self taught thanks to Rocksmith video game and YouTube), and photography.
Thank goodness for the invention of YouTube. Not only did it provide him endless entertainment (GMM, Rockstar Voiceover), he loved learning all sorts of things. YouTube was his Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. So much to learn, so little time. The geekier, the better; sending me and my family links to physics, math and science videos (none of which his sister-in-law understood, all of which brought glee to his brother-in-law), which, honestly, I couldn’t follow 90% of the time but still enjoyed. He would be so thrilled if anyone reading this got hooked on Vsauce, Mark Rober, Stand Up Math, or Veritasium.
He didn’t think he made a difference in the world but to myself and our families, he was: our computer wizard, fixing all glitches and ailments (trying hard to convince his mother-in-law that computers don’t need naps to work better), yard maintenance man, exercise equipment repair man (YouTube will also tell you everything on how to fix everything), dog walker, reluctant veterinary assistant to his wife when treating their animals as well as the injured bird or squirrel, cook, baker (having bake offs with his sister Debbie) and so much more.
His knowledge, humor, and occasional mix up of the english language (waking up one day stating to me he had an epitome. Do you mean epiphany?) will be sorely missed. So yes, he did make a difference to those around him. As Emperor Kuzco said, “Yay! I’m a llama again.” And for those who know where this comes from, you now know who Charles McJilton was.
A funny, intelligent, renaissance man who will be sorely missed. He had my vote for joining our family when he performed the chicken dance without ever meeting us furst! A great sport. A kind man. Fly high.
Thanks for the stories and photos of Charlie. Words cannot express the sadness I feel for your loss. You have great memories though and they will carry you through. Love to you, Becky, and your family.
Charles DID have a great sense of humor!!! I especially appreciate that he laughed at my poor attempts at being funny, his laughs just egged me on!! Every time I saw him he was always so cheerful, never cross and always happy go lucky! He was a loved member of our family and he will truly be missed!!
Chuckles was the funny, sweet, geeky man that Rebecca brought with her that I enjoyed seeing. I heard such cute stories about him that made him so endearingly human and kind hearted. He will be missed by many. By Grabthar’s Hammer, you shall be avenged!
Charles was a great guy, and a great contributor to our team when I worked with him. Also fun to hang out with. He will be missed.
It breaks my heart to hear that he struggled with cancer. It takes so many of us.
Charlie sounds like an incredible, wonderful, funny, loving human being. I never met him but I know Debbie and I feel like I know Marilyn and Rebecca too. My heart aches for you all I am so sorry for such a huge loss.
I’ve had the pleasure of working with Charles at two different employers. I always appreciated his calm, thoughtful approach to the work we did. I appreciated even more his curiosity and sense of humor. I’m happy to know that we shared many similar interests. I’m going to miss Charles greatly.
I can’t believe my three-year friendship with Charles all started when I asked him for help with a trivial problem. I never imagined that first chat would turn into us talking almost every single day. I loved hearing his stories about his passions: tech, coffee, cameras, Colorado, and so much more. He was one of those rare people who truly makes life better for everyone he meets. His passing is a profound loss to us all.
This is so shocking, I had the pleasure of working with him in the same team for a short period of time, but he was always a kind, respectful, responsible person and always able to share knowledge, when I found out he retired our team felt a little bad because we would not see him every day as we used to do …. I have no words to say, I am in shock, my deepest condolences to his family, know that he left a mark on all of us who knew him (even internationally cause I’m from Mexico), crazy uh?, we will all miss him!
Like Scott above, I also had the pleasure of working with Charles for several years at two different employers. I had lost touch with him between the jobs, but when he showed up suddenly on my team just 2 weeks after I started at the latest job, it was a very happy surprise for me as I have always thoroughly enjoyed working with him. He was smart, inquisitive, and hard working, but more importantly to me, he was friendly, patient, empathetic and always willing to teach if there was something I didn’t know. What would start as short chats or questions about something work related would often turn into very enjoyable extended conversations over our shared interests: dogs (particularly rescues), playing guitar and all the related gear that comes with that endeavor (I also learned initially by way of Rocksmith, so we had a shared path there as well) and Playstation games (we both seemed to fall on the very “casual” side of gaming).
I am so grateful I got a chance to reconnect and work with him again over the last 3 years, but I’m deeply saddened by his loss and I know how big of a void his passing will leave for his family and close friends. If there’s anything the world needs right now, it’s more people like Charles, not fewer.
I am deeply saddened to learn of Charlie’s passing. Growing up across from the McJiltons in LaPorte, I remember exploring the wilds of our families’ large backyards together, riding bikes with him to investigate the state fish hatchery in Bellevue, and venturing off on many trips to the arcade and movies in Fort Collins. The McJilton basement always felt like a mad scientist’s lair to me, glowing with Heathkit computers, but I always thought the best part of the basement was the dedicated freezer for frosted mugs of root beer. Charlie was such a genuinely good guy, and it is hard to accept that he is gone too soon. My heartfelt condolences go out to Rebecca, Deborah, Marilyn, and the entire family.