A service honoring the life of Charlie Ellwanger '55 will be held on Tuesday, May 21, at 11 AM, at the Guilford Funeral Home, 115 Church Street, Guilford, CT.
Dick Bracken '56
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Charlie Ellwanger '83, Dick Bracken & I visited Charlie last Wednesday, May 8th. Charlie was in cheerful spirits and was peaceful and lively (that is lively for the mellow Charlie!). He was almost giddy as he mentioned how he had from 5 to 20 visitors a day! He loved the view of the water in Branford CT. Charlie shared with us a story about his childhood and how times are so different today. It seems his parents drove a 10-year-old Charlie and a schoolmate from their Silver Beach house to a campground near Bear Mountain with a week's worth of supplies and details about where to be in one week's time when they'd come back to pick them up. The one problem was his Mom had packed canned food... but happened to forget the can-opener! They survived the trip just fine and he fondly thought back to what he learned that week frequently in his life. He also loved his experiences at Fort Schuyler. He talked about his three fantastic kids reminisced happily about his summer week-long sailing trips with them on Long Island Sound. Charlie beamed proudly when his son Joseph talked about his siblings and he being his best friends and how Charlie was the best Dad anyone could ask for. Charlie said that he was at peace with his Maker. He also said how he missed 'his Barbara' painfully. The cover story of the Fall 2012 Mariner is about Charlie - entitled "Thank You Charlie! -Ellwanger '55 Retires After 17 Years of Volunteerism Creating The Mariner". You can access it at www.fsmaa.org Click on Publications, then on Fort Schuyler Mariner.
Bridget Meenaghan Bendo Class of 1996
FMSAA