Charles Reese Probst
March 8, 1989-April 19, 2023
Los Altos, California

Charles O. Probst, previously named Reese J. Probst, died at home by accident on April 19, 2023. Born March 8, 1989 in Mountain View, Reese grew up in Palo Alto. He attended Gunn High School, where he competed on the wrestling team, served as president of the Gay-Straight Alliance, and received the Faculty Award for Outstanding Male Student when he graduated in 2007. Reese graduated with honors from San Francisco State University in 2011. At SF State he discovered his deep connection to Christianity and felt called to the medical profession. After working as a nursing assistant at Stanford Hospital, he enrolled in the University of San Francisco graduate nursing program, but was forced to drop out by chronic illness. Later, illness in remission, he became a pharmacy technician, working at Walgreens pharmacies in Palo Alto and Mountain View. He faced his hardships with grace and courage. His friends knew him as a sweet bear of a man who was always there to listen. He’d lived in Los Altos with his family since 2014, but he never lost his love for San Francisco and its gay and transgender communities. In 2022 he changed his name to Charles, after his grandfather. Charles (Reese) is survived by his parents Deborah and Richard Probst, and his uncle David and cousins Stephan and Marc Probst, and his great-aunt Dorothy Williams.