Charles Vey

A retired World War II Navy Combat Aircrewman made his final take-off on March 2, 2017. Charles D. Vey was born on July 17, 1923 and spent his early years on a ranch in N.E. Colorado. He attended high school in Greeley, CO, and joined the US Navy immediately after graduation in 1941. He spent 1942, 1943, and 1944 in the Pacific, participating in nine campaigns from the Coral Sea to the Philippines. He served in three Patrol Bombing Squadrons – VP44, VP71 and VB104. He survived being shot down behind enemy lines on 11-11-44 in the Philippines, and was eternally grateful to the Filipino guerillas who saved his life. He was medically discharged from US Naval Hospital, San Diego, on May 20, 1946. As a civilian he spent most of his adult life in sales with Monroe Systems, a Division of Litton Industries. He moved to Santa Rosa in December 1963, and managed a sales and service organization that covered the coast from the Golden Gate to Pistol River, OR. He retired from Monroe in November of 1983. He was preceded in death by his three siblings and his late wife, Margie. He is survived by his wife Betty Vey, 3 daughters, 7 grandchildren and 9 great-grandchildren. He was a life member of the Military Order of the Purple Heart and the Disabled American Veterans. Funeral services will be held at 1:00 p.m., Friday, March 10, 2017, at Menke Funeral Cremation Center Chapel, 12420 N. 103rd Ave., Sun City, AZ. He will be laid to rest at Santa Rosa Memorial Park in Santa Rosa, CA.