My name is Mark Clark. I want to raise funds for a funeral for my friend Chuck Gerhard. Both Chuck and I are retired Police Officers. Chuck was a commander with the Gonzales Police Department, and I was a Sergeant with the Salinas Police Department. Ironically, our paths never crossed during our police careers. I met Chuck when I hired him as the Security Supervisor for the Portola Hotel & Spa. A place Chuck truly loved working at.

 

We soon found out our lives were a mirror of each other. Chuck had two children; I had two children. He had been married for over thirty years; I had been married nearly 35 years. And the list went one. We soon formed a strong bond that was only severed by his passings. Words can't express the pain we all feel with Chuck being gone.

 

Chuck was a classic giver. He donated his time to worthy causes in his local community of Gonzales. He did barbeques regularly for organizations like Little Leagues baseball. Chuck bought things for the kids on several occasions, knowing their families might be struggling. Even though he had no connection to the team or the school where I coached basketball, Chuck still made the time to come out to virtually all our games and shot videos of them.

 

Sadly, Chuck's health forced him to retire from working at the hotel. I can't begin to tell you how sad that made him. He truly loved coming to work. He will be missed by his Portola Hotel family.

 

Any help given will be appreciated by all those who knew and loved Chuck! The funds will go to paying for the funeral coast. Any residual funds will be donated to one of Chuck's favorite charities.