CHUCK GREGORY (1976-2025)

CHUCK GREGORY (1976-2025)

Chuck Gregory, a native Washingtonian, died in San Francisco on February 22 after a long struggle with cancer. He was 49. The son of Janice and Neal Gregory,  Chuck was born at Georgetown Hospital on January 8, 1976, and grew up on Capitol Hill. His formal name was Chellis O’Neal Gregory III, but he was always known as Chuck.

A service of remembrance and a celebration of his life will be held at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church at 1:30 pm on Sunday, March 30.

Chuck was an acolyte at St. Mark’s, a member of the Boy Scouts and a star soccer player for his Soccer on the Hill championship team. A lifelong interest in public policy and politics began during the summers when he was a page for the U.S. House of Representatives. He attended Peabody and John Easton Public Schools, St. Anselm’s Abbey School, and graduated from Edmond Burke High School.

He received a degree in communications and film from Tulane University, where he was a member of SAE fraternity. He worked as a desk editor in the Washington Bureau of ABC Television News, later joining the staff of the Vancouver International Film Festival in Canada, working in promotion and development. He met Akiko Kano – who became his wife – in Vancouver while they were both teaching English as a foreign language. 

He earned a master’s degree in international relations at the University of British Columbia and was a development officer for UBC’s Sauder School of Business. Ten years ago, he moved to San Francisco as a development officer for Sutter Health, which operates 24 hospitals and over 200 clinics in Northern California.

Chuck had a dry wit and was always smiling. His fellow students and coworkers delighted in his storytelling talents. He had an uncanny ability to adopt the accents and mannerisms as he related tales from a wide variety of characters.  He could imitate Louisiana Cajuns, Southerners, Texans, New Jersey mafia, Boston Irish and variety of other groups with comic accuracy.

In addition to his parents, Neal and Janice Gregory, Chuck is survived by his wife Akiko Kano and their 11-year-old daughter Sara Gregory of San Francisco; and two sisters, Jennifer Cross of Santa Cruz, CA, and Kate Stark of Scotts Valley, CA.