I am going to be with her again!
He was born on August 18, 1909 on the family farm on west Gentile Street in Layton, Davis County, Utah the first child of George Elliott and Ella Tolman Dibble.
His farming roots ran deep and in 1947 he bought a small orchard in the foothills of North Salt Lake where he planted and reaped, following yearly the rhythms of the seasons until his death on November 30, 2002.
One of his greatest joys was the bursting open in spring of the blossoms of his hundreds of fruit trees and the release into the air of their sweet fragrance.
His life-time love of tilling the earth paralleled a brilliant and distinguished career as an educator and researcher. A quiet, humble, and gentle man, his accomplishments spoke loudly and he received international acclaim.
He received his BA degree in history from the University of Utah in 1936, in 1938 a Master of Arts degree in anthropology from the Universidia Nacional Autonoma de Mexico and in 1942 his Ph.D. from the same institution. He also did postdoctoral study at Harvard University in 1943.
He started as an instructor of anthropology at the University of Utah in 1941 and in 1977 he achieved the highest rank of Distinguished Professor. He served as Head of the department from 1960 - 1964. He is the only faculty member ever to be awarded the three most coveted awards of the University: Distinguished Research, Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Alumnus.
Although the list of his publications, professional affiliations awards, grants, special lectures run for many pages, he was most recognized for his translation, from Aztec into English in collaboration with Dr. Arthur J.O. Anderson of the Florentine Codex, a monumental undertaking by a Franciscan priest Fray Bernardino de Sahagun in the 1500s. Arthur and Charles started their translation efforts in 1949 and completed the twelve books with the publication of Book VI in 1969. What was envisioned as a five-year project turned out to be a thirty-year project.
For his great contributions he was awarded in 1981 the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle, the highest honor of the Mexican Government. In 1984, he was awarded the decoration and title Knight Commander "Order de Isabel la Catolica" by the king of Spain.
At his side tilling the earth and typing and editing his manuscripts was the greatest love of his life, his wife Audrey Sarah Nelson whom he married on December 16, 1936 in the Salt Lake Temple. Theirs was a 65 year union of such intense and lasting love, partnership and devotion that when she left on September 21, 2002 the separation was so insufferable that he departed freely and easily to be with her again. He will be laid to rest at her side in the Bountiful City Cemetery, in the land of mother's kin.
He is survived by four children M. Nelson (Sparkie), Ella Sorensen (Richard), Charlene Gustavesen (Wayne), and Carlos M. Dribble, 23 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, December 7, at noon at the Orchard Third Ward at 261 East Center Street, North Salt Lake. Viewing will be held one hour before at the Ward House. Interment: Bountiful City Cemetery. Funeral Directors: Jenkins-Soffe Mortuary, Murray.