Charles Edward Blair was born in Tehran, Iran in 1938 to American Medical missionaries (Dr. Edward Blair and Catherine Cooper Blair), and died in Lompoc on April 1, 2026. His family settled in Paso Robles, California, where he grew up. He attended Occidental College for pre-med and completed his general medical studies at UCSF in 1963. After his internship at Highland Hospital in Oakland, Ca, he went on active duty in the USAF and was stationed in the UK until 1967. He returned to the San Francisco Bay Area to complete his surgical residency, and further specialty in Thoracic Surgery, and was a memorable practicing surgeon in the East Bay. In the early 1980s, he re-enlisted in the USAF where he stayed until his retirement in 1999 as Lieutenant Colonel, finishing his career stationed at Vandenberg Air Force Base as Chief of Surgery. Afterwards, Charles was active in the Lompoc and Greater Central California communities in many capacities. He was a part time college teacher at Allan Hancock Community College, and the “Oldest College DJ in America” at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (KCPR); an elected member of the Vandenberg Village Community Services District, and Trustee of the Santa Barbara Co. Mosquito and Vector Control Board. He was a noted member of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS), Lompoc Valley Botanical & Horticultural Society (LVBHS), and the Lompoc Valley Democratic Club (LVDC). He found great fellowship in his church community at Valley of the Flowers, UCC, and also in the Lompoc Inter-Faith Council. He had a life-long passion for music of all kinds, and for sharing his incredible depth of knowledge about the Natural World.

He is survived by his four children Edward, Robert, Mary, and Ryann; and grandchildren Kate and Riley.

Services will be held at Valley of the Flowers Church in Lompoc, California, on May 30, 2026, 11 am. All folks who knew him are welcome.