Charles (Chuck) A. Mitchell
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of volunteer Charles (Chuck) A. Mitchell on October 13. He was 95.
The son of Charles and Ethel Mitchell, Chuck was born in Kodaikanal, India, where his father was headmaster of the Kodaikanal International School. Shortly after, his father assumed a position as headmaster of the American School of Japan, where the family lived for a few years before returning to the United States.
Chuck graduated from East Hampton High School in 1943 and graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a degree in electrical engineering.
Following his graduation, Chuck received a Navy assignment to decommission the USS Mathews during World War II, the same ship on which—five years later during the Korean War—he would serve as a lieutenant.
In 1954, Chuck earned an MBA from Harvard and started his career at Johnson Wire and Steel. He later moved to Simsbury, Connecticut, where he worked at General Electric.
He moved to Lexington in 1964 where he became the executive vice president of Polaroid Corp. and a marketing consultant. Chuck ultimately started his own financial services business, MHA. He was among the first certified financial planners.
Chuck and his wife Betty were volunteers at WHOI’s Peanut Butter Club for several years.
While in Lexington, Chuck was a member of the Boston Yacht Club and the Blue Water Sailing Club. He participated numerous times in the Marion to Bermuda Race using only celestial navigation. He continued his passion for sailing after settling in Falmouth.
Chuck and his Betty were early members of the Cape Cod Curling Club. They also sang in the choir at First Congregational Church of Falmouth. Chuck was a Master Mason at the Marine Lodge AF&AM in Falmouth.
Chuck was the husband of Betty Louise (Johnson) Mitchell, whom he married in 1947. Betty died in 2017 of complications from dementia.
Chuck leaves two sisters, Shirley Farmer of Hudson and Mary Jane Miranda of Plattsburgh, New York; three children, Cynthia M. Rankin and her husband, Russell D. Rankin, of Falmouth; Charles A. Mitchell and his wife, Jill Mitchell, of Marstons Mills and Stuart, Florida; and Susan L. Hands and her husband, Donald Hands, of Kittery, Maine; seven grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and other family.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, October 24, at 1 p.m., at the First Congregational Church, 68 Main Street, Falmouth, Mass.
Information for this obituary is from the Falmouth Enterprise