Charles Curtis Harvey died peacefully at age 99, surrounded by family, at Cooley Dickinson Hospital on March 10, 2019. He was born on February 15th, 1920, in Clinton, MA, the son of Charles Weston Harvey and Myrtle (Peters) Harvey. Charles had been residing at The Center for Extended Care in Amherst for 14 months, and previously had been living independently in Bolton, Massachusetts in the home in which he and his wife had raised their family since 1953.
Charles was a veteran of World War II, serving in the Army Air Corps. Hearing problems blocked him from active flight duty, so he served as a meteorology instructor, training pilots to read the weather in the years before weather radar or flight instrumentation. His interest in meteorology remained a lifelong passion that he shared with his family and many friends
Prior to his military service he attended the University of Toledo for one year, but returned home to Clinton, Mass. to support his mother after his father died of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis in 1939. It was at Toledo that he met fellow student and the love of his life, Leslie Marion Bemis. A yearbook from 1939 includes a picture of the Glee Club, with Charles in the back row focused not on the camera but on Leslie in the front. They were married in 1942, and Leslie, their infant daughter in tow, followed him around the country as he completed his military training and service. Charles and Leslie had been married for 70 years when she passed away in 2013 at the age of 92.
In addition to his wife, Charles was predeceased by his brother, Chester Hewitt Harvey, in 2017. He is survived and lovingly remembered by his daughter, Constance Wilkins, her husband, Adrian, and their son Peter, of Pelham; son Paul Harvey of West Roxbury, MA; son Bryan Harvey, his wife, Lynn Griesemer, and their son Sasha Harvey, of Amherst; grandson Allen Wilkins, wife Lisa Steele, and daughter Barbara Wilkins of Shrewsbury, MA; and niece Pamela Ballingham of Tucson, AZ.
Charles spent his entire professional career in the book manufacturing business, most of it at The Colonial Press in Clinton, Massachusetts, at the time one of the largest book printing plants in the world. Over the course of his career he rose through the organization, starting on the shop floor and eventually helping to lead the company through a difficult transition to digital typesetting and composition—in which it was a pioneer—during the 1970s and 1980s.
Although he had not been able to complete his formal education, he made sure that his children did. Charles was widely read and self-educated, and throughout his life demonstrated curiosity, deep thoughtfulness, and great wisdom. He was a person whose opinions were sought and cherished.
Charles was an enthusiastic bowler, golfer, and skier for many years. His passion, however, was tennis, which he played regularly until he started to slow down at age 90. He also gave generously to his community, serving as clerk of his church, town library trustee, and member of the board of assessors in Bolton. His blood type—O negative—made him a universal donor, and it was not uncommon for the phone to ring in the night asking him to come over to the hospital in the next town to help with some crisis. To his children, he (and their mother) made responsibility to the community seem the most natural thing in the world, and they have followed his wonderful example in many ways.
An interment and memorial service will be held in the Bolton area at a later date.