Charles Gedge Obituary

I am so grateful and touched by the memories and trees here shared with me and my family from friends old and dear. I am learning to live without him but I have never been an adult without his love and companionship and wisdom and support and good humor and optimism. I miss the stories , too, no matter how many times I heard them. Thank you all for sharing more stories and love here.

I met Chuck Gedge when he took part time employment at the Lake Forest Post Office (Illinois) long about 1967-8. We never got in big trouble at the PO, but he did teach me how to push the envelope.
Chuck was a major influence in my decision to "retire" from the PO and become a teacher myself. I spent 35 great years in teaching and administration of special education, at that time a new field.
Motorcycle rides, he on a Bultaco and me on my Honda, covered the area on warm nights.
A swell guy and someone who I was pleased to become friend with. I extend my sympathy to his family. He was one of a kind. Bob Ralston. Gurnee, Il.

Chuck was a fantastic teacher! My favorite one at LFA. I´m sorry to hear of his passing...

Sharing my condolences as a Ghanaian, I say DAMIRIFA DUE. You'll forever be missed, Chuck. Karin, you're in my thoughts. Much love to you in this time of grief.

The old adage goes, "It takes a village to raise a child," and I´m so glad that the Gedges were part of our family´s village. My parents, David and Geri, firmly believed that it was important for my brother, Andrew, and I to have adults around us whom we could trust. I´m SO grateful that Chuck and Karin were two of those adults in our lives. I have such fond memories of Rowland Road backyard cookouts, tetherball games, hot-sauce tastings, Sasco Beach picnics, history lessons, and hours of Chuck´s hysterical stories and tall tales that had all of us in stitches. I will always, always hold those memories close to my heart with deep affection. Sending huge hugs to Karin, Erick, and Charlie.

I met Chuck in 1973. We were both working at a girls´ boarding school in Illinois. He owned a mid-50´s Desoto sedan. I was envious of him for that, but we became friends. I was just one of the myriad friends Chuck had. We spent some years at the school as it merged with a boys school across town. Chuck and Karin and I have been friends for 50 years or so now. In those early years Chuck and I ran together several times a week. If our solutions to world problems that we discussed on those runs had been implemented by world governments, the world would be a better place today. We also played tennis, talked and watched baseball, and I learned from Chuck, and Karin, the beauty of hospitality. And for over 50 years Chuck and Karin showed us all a wonderful, loving, sometimes joyfully crazy marriage

From Illinois Chuck and I went our separate ways, but several years later we were reunited at Greens Farms Academy in CT. Chuck came in as head of the Upper School, and it was there that I saw Chuck in the fullest fruition of his educational practice. He was a guy who loved to learn. I think that was at the base of his love of travel. He instituted an educational sailing program at the school, and he learned a great deal from that program himself. Chuck enjoyed experiential learning, which I´m sure directed to some extent his exploration of micro-breweries and minor league baseball and train trips. From that learning perspective I saw Chuck´s penchant for sharing. What he valued he wanted others to experience as well, which was central to his work with kids. He wanted students to have the best possible experience in school. From that base he was organized-he wanted things to get done and to be done well. He was positive-he was always happy to work with, simply to be with, the young people in his charge (they also loved his M&M man). Perhaps Chuck´s greatest strength was his consistency. He was fair at all times, he never showed favorites (well, except for Karin of course) and thus he was just, equitable, and always anxious to help kids do better not just in school, but as people.

I have known few people who are more positive and happy than Chuck-never known a man more ready to laugh at a joke and especially to laugh at himself. In these last days and weeks of his life, we all have witnessed his constitution. In pain and discomfort and uncertainty of what even the next day would hold, he has shown an inherent strength that was remarkable. I love Chuck, and I will miss him greatly.

Doran Morford

Chuck and I have been friends since our sophopmore year in high school and have been in contact ever since. He combined high spirits and a sense of fun with a deep social and political concern that I picked up from him. One of my favorite poems is The Road Not Taken and I owe much of my choice to Chuck.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-- I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.

Dear Karin, Erick and Charlie, I cannot tell you how sad I was to have heard the news of Chuck's death from Scott Reisinger. It's life's fate that our careers take is in many and varied directions. As the years passed I would think often of Chuck and would be grateful for Scott's occasional updates. But it is no exaggeration to say that in my years at Greens Farms Academy, Chuck was a cherished part of each day. I admired him for many reasons. His depth of knowledge and intellectual curiosity, his care for his students and for for teachers, his love of learning itself all were characteristics of a rare person. But add to that his practice of sending postcards to his father, his preference for certain special BBQ places and his great and obvious affection for his family and you can understand why/how he had such an impact upon me. I'll keep you all in my thoughts and prayers. I will remain grateful, indeed, that his influence has stayed with me after all these years and, I am sure, for more to come. Bill

Memorial celebration at the Chester County History Center on Sunday, December 17, from 1-3 pm. Memorial gifts may be made to the Charles '68 and Karin '72 Gedge Annual Scholarship at Lake Forest College: 555 North Sheridan Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045.

This photo is a fitting tribute to Chuck, taken at a neighborhood Halloween party in 2014. Captain and Tennille are pictured with 2 of my kids who loved Chuck as much as the rest of the neighborhood did. I believe my daughter is sporting a "Mr. Gedge mustache" in this photo. He was the Mayor of the street, the welcome wagon to new neighbors, had a great sense of humor, was incredibly kind and empathetic always offering an encouraging word, shared wonderful stories (his favorite - or our favorite - was how he and Karin ended up together), always up for a cocktail hour to talk politics, world travel or world history, stamps, baseball, his beloved garden beds, or craft brews. A green mini-Cooper will forever be a "Mr. Gedge car" to my kids. Truly one of a kind and will be missed more than words can describe.

I saw Chuck only a couple of times since we were teen-agers together in Glen Ellyn, but I gather that he never lost his extraordinary high spirits. A relish for people, for places, for ideas, for whatever each day offers is a rare gift, but one that can be contagious. Though I was two years younger, I often was with him to watch old movies or play poker or drive to Chicago and back for no reason. What we did didn´t matter. The pleasure of having known Chuck Gedge has not faded with all the years that have passed. My sympathies to Karin and his family on the loss of someone who must have been the very best of companions.

In loving memory of a wonderful person. We will love you and miss you always.

There are no words to express my sorrow over Chuck´s death. But I have many words to express my joy at having him as a wonderful friend and the best of neighbors. He had so many talents and was so generous in sharing them. He and Karin had the gift of making their friends feel special and welcomed in their home. Chuck loved a good joke or a funny story and shared them willingly and with great aplomb. He was a grill-master par excellence and loved exotic beers. A gardener, a historian, a White Sox fan, he shared all of these with us. My husband David and I knew Chuck for 30+ years and we looked forward to many more years but it was not to be. Chuck was as fine a person as you could ever meet. We send our love to Karin, Erick and his daughters and Charlie and we join you in grieving this beloved man.

I am expressing my condolences on behalf of Lake Forest College and Chuck's classmates from the Great Class of 1968. Karin's message captures everything we knew and loved about Chuck back in his College days. He was a pinnacle of class, refinement and sophistication. (Okay, I made that up, but he would have appreciated the effort.)

Chuck stayed involved with our class and attended many reunions. Several of us were irritated that he never seemed to age. He was among the best our class had to offer to Lake Forest College and we will miss him.

So very sorry to hear of Mr Gedge´s passing. Simply a wonderful man. Always pushed me to do better. Thinking of you all.

Although I did not have the honor and pleasure of knowing Chuck for an extended time, I truly admired his commitment to education and support and love to his family. I will truly cherish the opportunities I had to meet him. My thoughts and prayers are with you all.

Talking with Chuck and Karin over the years, I knew how rich and meaningful their life was together. Reading Karin´s "extended obituary" makes me think how hard it must be to say everything worth saying about Chuck. I know that I couldn´t do it. I wish I had words that could make Karin, Erick, Charlie, and the rest of the Gedges feel "less bad" about Chuck´s passing.

As the days and weeks pass, and as you return to life's routine, may you continue to feel comforted by the love and support of family and friends. Please take comfort in the words found at 2nd Thessalonians 2:16,17.

Extended Obituary for Charles Howell Gedge
June 1, 1944 to October 22, 2023

Charles Howell Gedge, Jr. died at age 79, very much in the prime of life, of the rare and aggressive anaplastic thyroid cancer. He was predeceased by loving parents, Charles Howell Gedge, Sr. and Jone Rehnberg Gedge. He is survived by wife of 53 years, Karin Erdevig Gedge; his two sons, Erick (Frederick George Gedge II) and Charlie (Charles Howell Gedge III); three adorable and loving granddaughters, Ella Grace Gedge, Katherine Elizabeth Gedge, and Olivia Clair Gedge; sisters Kimberly Gedge Walker (Bozeman, MT) and Lindsay Strand Gedge (Minnetonka, MN) and brother Karl Rehnberg Gedge (Lake Forest, IL), and dozens of other grieving family and friends from near and far. Charles (or "Skip" to his family and "Chuck" to the rest of the us) grew up in the suburbs of Chicago and graduated from Glenbard High School, Lake Forest College, and Roosevelt University, earning a B.A. and M.A. in History. He devoted his career to education, teaching students in every grade from 4th through graduate school. Beginning at public elementary schools in Zion and Waukegan, IL, he moved on to serve as a secondary social studies teacher and administrator at the independent schools of Lake Forest Country Day School, Ferry Hall School, and Lake Forest Academy in Illinois; Walnut Hill School in Natick, MA; Harley School in Rochester, NY; a long and rewarding tenure at Greens Farms Academy in Westport, CT; and interim positions at Hawken School in Cleveland, OH, and St. Timothy´s School in Stevenson, MD. He finished his active teaching career at Bucks County Community College and supervised secondary social studies student teachers at West Chester University in PA. Chuck continues to teach by donating his body to the Pennsylvania College of Osteopathic Medicine. He requested that memorial gifts be made to the Charles '68 and Karin '72 Gedge Annual Scholarship at Lake Forest College: 555 North Sheridan Road, Lake Forest, IL 60045.
Chuck was a storyteller in the classroom, over drinks, and at the dinner table. As a "raconteur par excellence" (his brother-in-law´s words), he leaves behind the memories of many, MANY engaging stories from his naughty-boy childhood (a case of ADHD before we invented it). His lively classroom, or his rich store of history and politics and jokes, supplied more anecdotes. The story that always got the biggest applause was his tale of reuniting and marrying his Playboy Bunny. Like Henry Higgins, he liked to take credit for turning her into a Yale Ph.D. and a history professor.
Chuck´s passions were many. You were a lucky family member, friend or neighbor if you savored his grilled lime lobster or his chicken and artichoke kebabs or savory soy salmon. If you shared his discovery of craft brewers or new winemakers or new cocktail creations if you played tennis or pool with him; if you attended concerts or sampled new recordings with him; if you canvased or watched the polls on election days, you observed his endless enthusiasm and energy. On retirement, he took up his childhood stamp collection with newly developed expertise and more disposable funds. Above all else, he retained his love of baseball and his devotion to the Chicago White Sox, long after leaving the friendly confines of COMISKEY Park. With friend and writer, Karl Zimmermann, he spent summers on the road documenting the peculiar attractions of minor league baseball, their parks, and their communities. For more than a dozen years, Chuck joined with long-time friend and ex-pat, Bill Amaden, and baseball buddies Tom Olsen and Tim Reichert, to watch a week´s worth of Sox baseball in Chicago or on the road.
Chuck´s appetite for travel was never satisfied since he was on a plane, in a train, and on an ocean liner in the last weeks of his life. He honeymooned on a train to Montreal and regularly took the rails to or from places like Fort Lauderdale, Charleston, New Orleans, Glacier National Park, Seattle, San Francisco, Vancouver, Toronto, and more. Our ocean adventures began on the Polish ocean liner, Stefan Batory, in the 1980s and continued with crossings and cruises to the Mediterranean, Baltic, Black Sea, Caribbean, and through the Panama Canal. If he´d lived a few weeks longer, he would have added a 50th country-Ireland--to his long list. Closer to home, he enjoyed the Eastern Shore, the Jersey and Delaware Shores, the New England coast and the islands. One of his proudest educational accomplishments was designing and instituting the annual sophomore schooner trips at Greens Farms Academy. Learning navigation, standing watch, raising sails, coiling ropes, scrubbing heads, and scouring pots were all essential elements of that educational experience. He delighted in taking his dearly loved granddaughters on trips to NYC, Philadelphia, Martha´s Vineyard, Nova Scotia, Williamsburg, and Disney World, on an exciting hunt for Sacagawea on the Lewis and Clark trail, and on a grand family cruise to Alaska. He quarantined for five weeks in 2020 with son Charlie in Phoenix, AZ. In the last few years, he loved exploring new hiking trails, new restaurants, and new cocktail recipes. He continued to plan new trips until the last few days of life.
The family is planning a Life Celebration in the not-too-distant future so "watch this space" for details. Thank you for sharing in the memory of a vibrant, generous, engaging, and loving husband, father, grandfather, family member, neighbor, friend, and committed educator.

I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to get to know Chuck over the past year. We met a few times for drinks and conversation ... and what truly wonderful conversation it was. An hour, an hour-and-a-half would fly by as he would share stories of his eventful life ... none more engaging than the one about how he and Karin met and became a lifelong couple ... that was better than a lot of movie scripts I've seen :). I know there was so much more to learn from him, and so I feel the loss of him from this world after just one year of being his friend. I can't imagine the loss for those whose lives he enlightened for much longer than that ... but I can imagine the amazing legacy he left with all of those with whom he came into contact.