Obituary: Chance Doubravsky

Chance attended Goldendale Schools from first grade to graduation. Throughout his schooling, Chance loved sports, playing basketball, baseball, football and was on the wrestling team. He then attended Central Washington State at Ellensburg, Washington, though he left after the first year to join in the family logging business.

From the time Chance could walk at 9 months old, he was intrigued with how things worked. He would take the backs off of all remotes to see the batteries and all the covers from wall plug receptacles and switches. Chance has always been a curious person, and easily bored. His first enterprise was catching crawdads and selling to the fisherman. This lasted only until the racoons found his stash and ate them. Chance learned from his father and grandfather how to mechanic on any vehicle from farm equipment tractors, combines, wheat trucks to logging trucks and equipment caterpillars, loaders, skidders. He painted his first pick-up at 16, along with company log trucks and several vehicles for friends.

Chance was also an experienced welder and won certificates for his work. As an electrician, he worked at the Goldendale Energy Plant and with his cousin Patrick Marx wiring businesses and new homes. As an operator, Chance ran skidders in the woods, skidding logs to the landings and log loaders, loading logs on log trucks. He also moved heavy equipment on lowboy and drove a tow truck on Snoqualmie Pass for Active Towing, Yakima, Washington. At 6 years old, he started loading rock with backhoe and front-end loaders into pickups and dump trucks, then later working with DeAtley Crushing Service, running track hoe. He batched concrete for his father’s business Pyramid Concrete and ran an electronic batch plant for Central Pre-mix.

Chance was a journeyman mechanic for Peter Kiewit in Portland, Oregon, rebuilding a grader and a caterpillar from the ground up. He won silver, bronze and gold medals attending the World Olympics of performing arts in California through the Gina Mosbrucker’s dance studio. Also, Chance was a great artist, could draw almost anything by sight seagulls, bunnies (for Mom’s easter baskets) to the logo “Timberwolf” for son Casen Doubravsky's letterman jacket.

There were no strangers to Chance. He knew everyone’s name in school growing up and was eager to help everyone even if they didn’t ask. Whether it was help changing tires, giving a ride or pulling their vehicle out of the mud, Chance was always up for the task. For his sister and mother, he even learned to help train and calm their horses. Chance also found himself changing irrigation pipe for the family buffalo raising enterprise and it certainly was not his favorite job, but he also helped in the birthing, corralling and loading of the buffalo. 

Chance drove semi-truck with a wheat trailer at the age of 12 from the fields to the road and ran combine to harvest wheat. Later on, he got his CDL at the age of 18. Chance’s hobbies were riding motorcycles (KTM and several Honda “Monkey’s”). He built and raced a drag truck and built a 1927 roadster. Chance loved to mechanic and build motors for Chevrolets, working on Fords, (through gritted teeth) Chrysler, Corvette, etc., but preferred Chevrolets, especially the Camaro and Chevelle.

Chance is survived by his girlfriend, Jessica Hauck; three sons, Conner, Casen, Corrin; one daughter, Corra; one grandson, Lincoln (Conner); his sister, Angel (Doubravsky) Ramsey and two nieces, Apryl (Ramsey) Bauska and Kathryn Ramsey; along with his parents Mark and Kimberley Doubravsky. He is also survived by his grandmother Barbara Jones; his Cain Corso dog, Hades (Son of Atlas) pup from Casen's first dog, “Atlas;" and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins.

He is preceded in death by aunt Constance (Jones) Marx (1973), his cousin Brandon Jones (1999), grandfather Charles Doubravsky (2001), grandmother LaVerne Doubravsky (2013) and grandfather Ivor Jones (2017).

Services will be held on Saturday, April 4 at the Goldendale High School gym at 1 p.m. Eric Kastl will be the officiant speaker, with a car parade to IOOF Mountain View Cemetery for internment.

There will be a celebration of Chance’s life luncheon following at the Goldendale Country Club Golf Course. Chance had always been known to ride the fine line at 170 mph!

Columbia Gorge News, April 1, 2026