Remembering Aspen’s Charles Bernard Israel
Courtesy Photo
Born May 30, 1932 in New York City, the third son of David Harris Israel and Ruth Sturtz. His father’s parents fled a ghetto in Czestochowa, Poland in 1889. His mother’s parents immigrated from Vienna, Austria.
Charles attended Columbia Grammer School in Manhattan. He studied at home while recovering from polio in 1943 but was still able to graduate high school at age of 17. He graduated from Syracuse University in December in 1952. During college he won a Model T Ford in a card game and used it to deliver 1,500 copies of the college newspaper five days a week. He also became a sparring partner for Carmen Bassilio, world champion boxer.
After graduating Syracuse, he immediately went to work for Macy’s Department Store Executive Training Program. He was promoted to assistant buyer of Women’s Coats Department. In December 1953, he was drafted to serve in the 47th Infantry Division of the US Army during the Korean War. He received an honorable discharge 13 months later. In returning, he chose not to rejoin Macy’s. He instead partnered with his brothers working in their father’s infants wear sweater business, Regal Knitwear Company.
In 1957, Justin and Charles decided to manufacture their own label, called Justin Charles Company. In 1962 he married Swedish photographic model, Gunn Agell. They had three children together; Linda, David and Gunilla Israel. Charles friendship with other high-end manufacturers and designers continued and led to a partnership with Anne Klein.
In 1971, Justin and Charles decided to sell their business to Genesco, Inc. He left New York City in 1973.
In 1974, he moved his family to Aspen, Colorado. To support his retirement, he and his friends Mort Heller and Jim McDade started to make second mortgage loans up and down the Roaring Fork Valley; thus creating Rocky Mountain and Equity Mortgage Company.
In 1979, Mort and Jim asked him to join them in investing in a newly formed Aspen bank called Pitkin Country Bank and Trust. Soon after investing, they realized they had been swindled, and Charles agreed to run the bank as president if Mort Heller would become chairman of the board. Both knew little of running a bank but they were willing to learn!
In 1992, Charles remarried again to Sandy Goldman, successful media sales person in Aspen and mother of two children, Rachel and Joshua. When Charles and Sandy married, she stopped working outside the home and was mother to all five of their blended children.
Shortly thereafter, Pitkin County Bank acquired other banks in Colorado and New Mexico; their success was reported in Forbes Magazine as “Banker to the 400 Richest People in America.” The bank went public and was traded on the New York Stock Exchange under ASBK bank shares.
Sadly, the family suffered two major losses: son David Israel was killed in an automobile accident in 1998; and daughter Gunilla Israel Asher passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer in 2014, leaving behind her husband, Mark and two young grandsons, David and Charlie.
Charles is most proud of his marriage to Sandy Goldman Israel and her work with Race for the Cure, daughter Linda’s success in the art world and marriage to Greg Zimmerman, daughter Rachel’s wedding in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to Dr. Giora Hahn and her Society of Fellows work at the Aspen Institute, son Joshua Goldman’s fitness business in Basalt and his contribution to healthcare, and daughter Gunilla’s marriage to Mark Asher and being publisher of Aspen Times.
His happiest moments have been sharing in the lives of his four grandsons: Ari and Nadav Hahn and Charlie and David Asher.
Charles left a lasting impression on those he helped when he was president at Pitkin County Bank in Aspen.
Charles passed away peacefully on April 14, 2025.
All friends are invited to a celebration of life for Charles at our home: Aspen Glen — 417 Golden Bear Drive, Carbondale, from 5-7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 15, and from 5-7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 16.
The Israel family wants to express their gratitude to Sopris Lodge Assisted Living Center, and Hospice of the Roaring Fork Valley. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in memory of Charles to Hospice of the Roaring Fork Valley, http://www.hchotv.org.
