Gene Sargent Obituary (1931 – 2022) – Burlington, WA

Burlington – Dr. Gene Sargent Passed away at Skagit Valley Hospital on August 21, 2022 with family members present. He was 91 years old.

Gene was born June 27th, 1931 to John T and Mary Sargent in Salmon Creek Washington. Gene was the youngest of 12 children and grew up on a farm with his parents and 11 siblings. The farm was located in a portion of Salmon Creek known as “Pleasant Valley”. He attended school at Salmon Creek Grade School. It was a single room school with 30 kids. Mellicent Barret was his only teacher for his first 6 years of school. Gene was very fond of Mrs. Barret and she had a tremendous influence on his life. He went to Jr High at Battle Ground and then attended High School in Vancouver Washington. It was at Vancouver High School that he met the love of his life Charlotte Marie Bundlie.

On July 5th, 1949 at the age of 18, Gene enlisted in the Navy for a one year stint and served on the Franklin D Roosevelt aircraft carrier as an aviation ordinance man. In 1950 he returned to Vancouver and attended Clark College.

Two years later, Gene and Charlotte were married. They waited until Gene turned 21, so that he could legally apply for and sign the marriage documents. It took three days to get the documents and so they were married on June 30th, 1952. They enjoyed 63 anniversaries together until Charlotte passed away in December of 2014.

After graduating from Clark College Gene enrolled in the University of Oregon Dental School and attended dental school at their satellite campus in Portland Oregon. Gene and Charlotte’s first child Cindy, was born in Vancouver Washington, in 1955 while Gene was attending dental school.

After graduating from dental school Gene was persuaded by his good friend and fellow dentist Dr. Walt Patten to Join the Army. In 1956 Gene was commissioned in the Army as a First Lieutenant and a year later was promoted to Captain. He performed dentistry at Ford Ord in Monterey, California. Mark was born at the Fort Ord hospital in 1957.

Gene, Charlotte, Cindy and Mark moved to Burlington in 1958. Gene rented a dental office from his good friend and mentor Dr. Floyd Hamstrom for several years before building his dental office on Hazel Avenue. Gene practiced dentistry in Burlington for 48 years. He was defined by his dentistry which he performed with great pride and skill. He won several awards for his outstanding dentistry.

Mike and Rob were each born at Mathew’s Hospital on Fairhaven Ave in 1959 and 1960 respectively.

Gene was very active in his community and was involved with Rotary, Kiwanis, little league baseball and PTA. He read the words at the school district’s annual spelling bee for 30 years. He was active in local politics and was instrumental in creating the 40 acre minimum, to help preserve Skagit County farmland.

Gene grew up fishing small rivers and streams in Southwest Washington. Gene credited Ray Barrett for taking him steelhead fishing in Salmon Creek and the East Fork of the Lewis River, which turned him into a “devout fisherman”. He enjoyed hunting, fishing and crabbing his entire life.

There was nothing he enjoyed more than traveling with Charlotte to their vacation home in Pateros. Gene would fish the Methow River, Alta Lake or Rufus Woods during the day and then Gene and Charlotte would sit in their swing, sipping a cocktail, and looking for shooting stars at night. That swing was the only thing that survived a wild fire which destroyed their vacation home in July of 2014.

Gene loved to tell stories! Oh did he love to tell stories. Stories of growing up on the farm as a kid, the forest fire lookout station on top of Green leaf mountain, college professors, sunrises aboard an aircraft carrier, hitch hiking across the nation, boxing in the Navy, and how he met and courted his beloved Charlotte. There were more than a few stories about catching fish with Bob, Pete, Yami and Floyd, crabbing with Pam and Gerry, and hunting with Homer. His youngest brothers John, Harry and Herb were the subject matter in many of his stories including those that entailed World War II.

The Sargent family would like to thank Dad’s special care giver, Sunni for the compassionate and dedicated help she provided him. We would also like to thank Katie for coming over daily to spend time with dad and extending her companionship. We can’t thank Pam and Gerry enough for being the greatest neighbors you could ask for

Gene was preceded in death by his parents John T and Mary Sargent, his beloved wife Charlotte, All 11 of his siblings Stanley, Kenneth, Earl, Ada, Ona, Ruth, Arnold, Louise, John, Harry and Herb. He is survived by his daughter Cindy Trask (Mike), three sons, Mark Sargent, Mike Sargent (Lisa) and Rob Sargent, five grandchildren Chelsie, Carly, Haley, Kyle and Christina and three great grandchildren AJ, Aiden and Drake.

In Lieu of flowers please consider a donation to the Gene and Charlotte Sargent Scholarship through the Burlington-Edison Alumni Foundation. Po Box 350, Burlington, WA. 98233

A private family graveside service will take place at Burlington-Greenhills cemetery next to Charlotte.

A celebration of Gene’s life will be held late summer or early fall.

Please share your thoughts of Gene and sign the online guest register at www.hawthornefh.com

Published by Skagit Valley Herald from Aug. 24 to Aug. 25, 2022.

34465541-95D0-45B0-BEEB-B9E0361A315ATo plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.