Charles W. Missler was an American author, evangelical Christian, Bible teacher, engineer, and former businessman. He was the founder of the Koinonia House ministry based in Post Falls, Idaho.
Life and career
Career
Missler graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1956 and received a Master's degree in Engineering from UCLA. He worked for several years in the aerospace and computer industries. He joined the Ford Motor Company in 1963. Missler joined Western Digital as chairman and chief executive in June 1977, and became the largest shareholder of Western Digital. In 1983 Missler became the chairman and chief executive of Helionetics, Inc., another technology company. He left Helionetics in 1984 "to pursue other opportunities in the high-technology field". In August 1985 Helionetics sued Missler, alleging a conflict of interest, claiming that after Missler and other Helionetics executives had decided not to purchase a small defense electronics maker, that same company was purchased by an investment corporation in which Missler held a controlling interest. The suit was settled when Missler's firm agreed to pay Helionetics $1.6 million. In 1989 he headed up the Phoenix Group International, a former Colorado real estate company that entered the high-tech industry to sell personal computers to Russian schools. Phoenix filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990 when the deal did not develop as anticipated.
Ministry
After teaching for many years at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, Missler moved to Coeur d'Alene in 1992 and founded Koinonia House. Through this organization, Missler distributed a monthly newsletter and Bible study tapes, hosted a radio show called "66/40", and spoke at conferences. Missler was a prominent speaker on the subject of bible prophecy. In April 2016, Missler retired from his position as president of Koinonia House. In May 2017, Missler retired from active participation in international ministry conferences.
Controversy
A Los Angeles Times article reported that Missler and co-author Hal Lindsey had plagiarized a portion of Miami University Professor Edwin Yamauchi's 1982 book Foes from the Northern Frontier in their own 1992 book The Magog Factor. Hal Lindsey's manager Paul Krikac said Missler had written the passages in question, but conceded that Lindsey is responsible for the overall manuscript: "His butt is on the line." After the missed attribution was acknowledged by Missler, book shipments to bookstores were discontinued and all of the authors' proceeds donated to a ministry. Missler has also been accused of plagiarism of New Age writer Michael Talbot's 1992 book The Holographic Universe in his 1999 book Cosmic Codes: Messages from the Edge of Eternity. Missler has also acknowledged this as missed attribution and has since publicly apologized. He said a correction would be inserted in all unsold copies and the book itself updated in subsequent printings. Missler has donated all of the author's proceeds from the book to a ministry. Due to his experience with technology, Missler was a figurehead in bringing the "Year Two Thousand Bug" to the attention of the Christian community. In 1998 he coauthored a book with John Ankerberg investigating whether America would survive the crises to be caused, he claimed, by embedded computer chips that would malfunction on what they would calculate as year zero.
Personal life
Missler was married to Nancy Missler. They had two sons and two daughters. Nancy died of cancer on November 11, 2015.
Death
Missler died at his home in Reporoa, New Zealand. He is survived by his two daughters.
