Gramps, from Town of Springfield

The town of Springfield's obituary page has this, less college-centric piece on Gramps.


LAWSON, CHARLES JUDSON, 87, passed away on June 8, 2008 at his home in New London, NH. Chuck was a 1943 graduate of MIT, completing his degree early in order to join the US Army. He served in Europe during WWII, and was discharged as an Artillery Captain in 1945. He married Joan Hubbard of Nashua, NH in 1942. After the war, Chuck had a distinguished career in manufacturing management in companies such as IBM, Hancock-Telecontrol, and National Micronetics. He retired in 1983 as a Group Vice President of EG&G Industries, and President of their Rotron Division. He also served on numerous corporate and non-profit organization boards, including Labsphere in NH and the Kingston Hospital and Marist College in NY.

Chuck and Joan had an abiding love for the state of NH. They honeymooned in Sunapee Harbor, and vacationed at Cable's Cabins on Little Lake Sunapee. They then purchased a home in Springfield, NH in 1963, which became their summer residence after retirement. They also resided in Naples, FL.

Chuck became active in the New London community when he joined the Colby Sawyer College's Board of Trustees in 1988. He was elected Chairman in 1992, and served in this capacity until 1998 when he became an emeritus trustee. During his tenure, Colby Sawyer made a number of key changes, including the planning and implementation of the college's change to a coeducational institution, selection of a new college president, construction of the Hogan Center and other athletic facilities, successful execution of a major capital campaign, and a significant campus expansion.

Chuck was also elected to the New London Hospital Board of Trustees in 2001, and was instrumental in developing plans to overcome operating challenges at the hospital. He became an emeritus trustee in 2005.

Chuck was predeceased by his loving wife, Joan, in 2005. He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Nancy Lawson of Naples, FL, and his sister, Rev. Rosemary Peters of Halifax, MA, as well as by his children and their spouses, Charles and Cindy Lawson of Springfield, NH, Bruce and Jody Lawson of Plattsburgh, NY and Gail and Reid Anderson of Tampa, Fl. He will also be missed by his four granddaughters, Betsy Fujinaga, Susan Woodard, Julia Lawson and Mercy Anderson, and his great-granddaughter, Lilliana Cross.

Baker beach

Wednesday was a beautiful day so we took Sunapee to Baker Beach where Brian met us to enjoy the sunset, people watch, enjoy a beer and tire out the puppy.

One of Sunapee's favorite items for fetch is this giant flexible frisbee. It's about 3x the size of his head. He usually grabs it from the center and we wonder how he can find his way back to us without the aid of sight.

Watching the puppy with the sun at our backs. The shot always makes me think of a Steely Dan album.

Dirty puppy.

Duck "Hunting"

Sunapee enjoys pretending to be on a duck hunt with his little stuffed duck (from Target of all places). I think this is just one of many reasons the cats remain distant. Matt shot this video to demonstrate.

Gramps' own IBM history

Further Googling has yielded a history of IBM’s Rochester, MN, location (pdf) and also includes some notes and photo of Gramps and his position as General Manager. If I can piece this together, this may have had something to do with my dad’s historic 5^th grade year which included 4 moves. He may need to correct this but the year (1956) looks about right.

CJL, Sr. also an IBM man

Now this I did not know. Gramps' father, Charles J. Lawson, Sr. (or "Daddy Cuck" or "The Colonel") was also an IBM man. Are Betsy and I breaking the code here by not working in the technology field as the previous three generations did?

Click here for a quick snapshot of Daddy Cuck and his IBM legacy.




This find is another reason to love the internet and specifically (for me) Google.
Photo from IBM.com

Gramps, as told by Colby-Sawyer

I'm not ready to write something of my own yet, so I will instead post the memo Colby-Sawyer College sent to the current members of the Board of Trustees. It's hard to sum up such an amazing life, but here is his life, from the College's POV.

In Memoriam

Charles "Chuck" J. Lawson

Charles "Chuck" J. Lawson, former chairman of the Colby-Sawyer College Board of Trustees, passed away unexpectedly on June 8, 2008. Chuck was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1988 to 1998, serving as its chairman from 1992 until 1998. From 1998 until his passing, he served as an honorary life trustee. During his time on the board, Chuck was instrumental in conceiving the ideas and implementing the decisions which changed Colby-Sawyer from a college in financial and enrollment crisis to one of the strongest and most respected colleges in its peer group.

Chuck was a leader who was unafraid to take bold steps when they were complemented by careful stewardship. He was directly involved in the college's goal-topping, first-ever, comprehensive capital campaign, the continued improvement of its high quality academic programs, its consistent growth in both endowment and enrollment, numerous physical plant improvements, and its highly successful reaccreditation by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. During his tenure as chair, Lawson Hall was conceived and constructed, and 116 acres of land for new recreation and athletic fields was purchased.

Both Chuck and his wife, Joan, who predeceased him in 2005, were passionate supporters of education, and their generosity touched every facet of the Colby-Sawyer community. They often said, "We like knowing that at Colby-Sawyer we can really make a difference." Chuck and Joan were members of the Legends Society, a group whose membership includes those who donate $1 million or more during their lifetimes to the college.

As a way of acknowledging all of Chuck's extraordinary contributions to Colby-Sawyer, in 1998 he was awarded the Susan Colgate Cleveland Medal for Distinguished Service, the college's highest honor. President Tom Galligan said of Mr. Lawson, "Chuck's commitment, intelligence, hard work, and dedication to our college were instrumental in significantly reinforcing the foundation upon which the strength of Colby-Sawyer is built today. He was a wonderful leader, a true gentleman, and a great friend of the college who could always be counted on to offer his time, financial support, and guidance as it was needed. We will all miss him very much."

Chuck was a 1943 graduate of MIT, completing his degree early in order to join the US Army. He served in Europe during WWII, and was discharged as an artillery captain in 1945. After the war, Chuck had a distinguished career in manufacturing management in companies such as IBM, Hancock-Telecontrol, and National Micronetics. He retired in 1983 as a group vice president of EG&G Industries, and president of their Rotron Division. He also served on numerous corporate and non-profit organization boards, including Labsphere and New London Hospital in NH and the Kingston Hospital and Marist College in NY.

Chuck was a resident of New London, NH and Naples, FL. He is survived by his brother and sister-in-law, Tom and Nancy Lawson of Naples, FL, and his sister, Rev. Rosemary Peters of Halifax, MA, as well as by his children and their spouses, Charles [Jud] and Cindy Lawson of Springfield, NH, Bruce and Jody Lawson of Plattsburgh, NY and Gail and Reid Anderson of Tampa, FL. He will also be missed by his four granddaughters, Betsy Fujinaga, Susan Woodard, Julia Lawson and Mercy Anderson, and his great-granddaughter, Lilliana Cross.

A memorial service will be held at 10:00 AM on Wednesday, August 6, at the First Baptist Church of New London, NH, with a private interment at the Pleasant View Cemetery in Springfield, NH. Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent in his memory to The New London Hospital, 273 County Road, New London, NH 03257.

Ladies' Coffee Break

I had a nice mid afternoon coffee break and met up with SHHS friend Lisa and her 8 month old Olivia. She has gotten so big since I saw her first in November and even since I saw her at a SHHS basketball game in February. Hooray for summer that Lisa and Olivia could take a stroll the 8 or so blocks to meet me at one of the many nearby Starbucks. Olivia is quite the character and this time we REALLY need to see them more.

Post-Outing Puppy

Here lies Sunapee, in pretty much the same coma-like state for the entire night after playing at Crissy Field with Matt, Greg and Bridger.


He even went to his crate, grabbed his stuffed animal puppy and brought it to the living room so he could snuggle with it.
He napped through the indoor cookout (cold, foggy June night necessitated indoor burgers) and an hour + of Wii fun.

Sunapee at Crissy Field

I took a long weekend (2 days off) to enjoy a relaxing time while Matt had a vacation between regular school and summer school. We took advantage of the great weather to play with Sunapee on the beach and tire him out. He is improving on his fetch skills (he is a retriever after all) and he loved the sand and fresh air.

Unfortunately, the next day we tried this at Baker Beach, with its rougher surf as it is full-on ocean, not sheltered bay, and this orange rubber stick was washed away for the sea lions to fetch.

Let's Go Mets Go

We hit the Giants - Mets game last night with a friend who grew up in Queens. Matt temporarily quieted his inner Yankees fandom and joined Shuja in rooting on Pedro and the Mets. We both thought of brother-in-law John and his long-standing Mets alliance. I had flashbacks watching Pedro pitch and a new experience seeing him at bat (where he had 2 hits, drove in a run and scored once).


Pedro in action
It really is a neat stadium. So very much nicer than the Oakland Coliseum. It is, however, amazing just how much advertising can fit in one place. Just about every square inch is covered - right down to the cup holders in front of each seat.

Cat in the Ceiling

After the walls in the kitchen and dining room were in place, we had the HVAC guy return to punch a hole in the dining room to install the heating vent and punch a hole behind the microwave for ventilation. Unfortunately, I had marked a reminder on the ceiling but that was not the right location. The HVAC guy took my sketch as an indicator of location and cut a hole, to discover the duct was not there. Matt's just thrilled at the prospect of repairing a 5x5" hole, but we hadn't started it yet.

We return from a walk yesterday afternoon to discover Marin IN the ceiling. I had seen her peering at it from atop the old fridge, but figured she wouldn't be that curious, right? Wrong! She managed to jump from the fridge into the hole in the ceiling, but couldn't figure out her escape. I had to convince her to reach out of the hole paws first, which was challenging as she doesn't speak much English. She did eventually reach out, after a few failed attempts by me to pry her out via collar. Hopefully she didn't eat any insulation (not as much of a concern with her as it would be for puppy, tho she has been known to gnaw on wires) and we dusted her off, sent her on her way and immediately started the patching process.

I guess she'll do just about anything to get away from Sunapee.


Update 6/3/08: She did it again. I came home from boot camp at 7:10 am and while I was talking to Matt as he sat at the counter, I noticed a furry brown face looking at me from the ceiling. The wall patch was on the floor. This time, however, she decided to explore the crawl space more fully and went missing for several minutes, while I tried every trick I have to get her attention (which isn't much; she's the least responsive of the 3 animals). She eventually came out and jumped back onto the fridge. We then moved the fridge to the other side of the dining room while it awaits removal.