Dr. Charles G. Alexander, age 72, of 212 Cold Brook Road, Vermontville, died Sunday, June 09, 2013.
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts on August 27, 1940, he was the son of Wesley and Marion (Hill) Alexander. Charles married Susan N. Stovold on July 18, 1970 in Weymouth, Mass.
Charles received his B.A. from Boston University, his M.A. from the University of Rhode Island and his Ph.D. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He taught at Green Mountain College in Poultney VT before moving to the Adirondacks and joining the faculty at Paul Smith’s College. Charles retired last year from Paul Smith's after thirty-nine years in the classroom (September 1973 - May 2012). He served as Division Head of the Social Sciences/Humanities Division; chair of the B.S. in Liberal Studies and B.A. degree in Personal Expression. He created and taught several courses throughout the years. He served as College Marshal and received the Chamberlain Teaching Excellence Award. He also taught Speech and Introduction to film at North Country Community College. Charles served as camera expert on filmmaking in the Adirondacks, taught film in the Elderhostel program, edited copy for Lake Placid film forum, and was the “guts and brains behind, ‘Seasons of a Poet: The Jeanne Robert Foster story,” which aired on WCFE in Plattsburgh. He published articles in the Adirondack Life magazine on Mark Twain; he also won an award from the National Woodland Owners Association for a film entitled Maple Sap Processing, which he co- produced with long-time friend and collaborator James Kraus. He presented papers at the 24th Annual colloquium on Film and Literature, was a member of the Adirondack Singers, Franklin County ARC, WCFE, Lake Placid Center for the Arts and the Adirondack Museum. He attended and participated in numerous film festivals and also acted in radio dramatizations and live plays as a member of the Community Theater Players. He loved to garden almost as much as he loved to do research and teach and he had already drawn the schematics for his raised-bed gardens for this spring before his short illness prevented him from planting the vegetables and flowers.
Charles was a veteran of the U.S. Navy and served during the Vietnam era.
He is survived by his wife of 42 years, Susan of Vermontville, four sons Gregory of Los Angeles CA, Charles of Saranac Lake, Wesley of Franklin, WV, and William of Vermontville. He is also survived by one sister Paula Fisher of Reading MA, two nephews Robert and Jonathan Fisher and one niece Jacqueline Nazzaro.
Calling hours will take place at the Fortune-Keough Funeral Home on Friday, June 14, 2013 from 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM. A memorial service will take place at 11:00 AM on Saturday June 15, 2013 at the Fortune - Keough Funeral Home in Saranac Lake, with Rev. Michael Richards officiating. Burial will follow at Union Cemetery in Vermontville.
Friends wishing to remember Dr. Charles G. Alexander may make memorial contributions to their favorite charity in care of the funeral home.