Charles David Newsham, age 94, passed away on Memorial Day, May 26, 2025. Charles (David to his family and Chuck to his colleagues) was born in Concord, Mass., on December 21, 1930, the third of four boys, to the late William Newsham and Elsie Irene (Bailey) Newsham, originally from northern England.
The family lived in Pepperell and then Stow, Mass., where Chuck graduated from Hale High School, class of 1948. In June of that year, he joined the U.S. Navy and served an extended tour on the USS Rochester to support the Korean War, receiving seven battle stars. After five years in the service, he returned to Massachusetts in 1953 and earned his electrical engineering degree from Northeastern University. During a co-op assignment at the General Electric Co. in Lynn, Mass., he met and married Gertrude Marie Delp, on March 22, 1958. They were married for 67 years.
After graduation, Chuck and Gert relocated to Pittsfield, Mass., where they started their family, raising three children. In 1970,
the family moved to Colchester, Vt., where Chuck continued his career with GE, serving in several leadership roles, includingmanager of advanced systems engineering. His career took him all around the world, and he was one of the earliest visitors to China after travel was resumed in 1978. He was the architect of the EX83 system for the Goalkeeper Anti-Missile Defense System and was proud to present it to then senator and chair of the Armed Services Committee, Barry Goldwater. Chuck retired from GE after 32 years of service.
Leveraging his extensive knowledge of weaponry, he was asked to be the range officer for the biathlon at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid and was a life member of the National Rifle Association. He participated in Civil War reenactments and competitions as a member of the North-South Skirmish Association.
The Vermont outdoors was a second home for Chuck. He was a working member of both the Green Mountain Club and the Appalachian Mountain Club and spent many weekends hiking, skiing and snowshoeing in the back country, even in the coldest temperatures. Camel’s Hump was like a second home, especially the Bamforth Ridge. During the summers, he and Gert put
more than 2,000 miles on their bicycles, and at the age of 62, they biked the 185-mile Cabot Trail in Nova Scotia, where they visited their many friends each year. If he wasn’t hiking, he could be found kayaking, sailing or racing his Lightning as a member of the Malletts Bay Boat Club, and during the winters he loved playing hockey with the GE League.
Chuck had a talent and passion for cartooning and watercolor painting. A cartoon of his military service hung in the Naval Office in Washington, D.C., for several years. His cartoons, known as “Bumdoodles,” were displayed internationally, in local newspapers and occasionally on restaurant walls. If you gave Chuck a plain white place mat or piece of paper, it quickly became
a treasured memory. He was a signature member of the Vermont Watercolor Society, and his paintings could be seen at shows around New England.
Chuck was a devoted father and grandfather. He would drop anything to spend time with his family, especially if it meant skiing, skating, sailing, throwing a ball or biking, and he was a regular at all the youth sporting events, including coaching his grandson’s hockey team. He leaves behind his wife and forever companion of 67 years; three children, Victoria Hildebrand (Brian) of Williston, Vt., Irene Newsham (Oliver Bogler) of Randolph, Vt., and William Newsham of Brookline, N.H.; his brother Stanley Newsham of Nashua, N.H.; and six grandchildren, Daniel Hildebrand (Andrea Torske) of Broomfield, Colo., David
Hildebrand of Nashua, N.H., Owen Bogler and Anna Bogler, both of Randolph, Vt., Emily Novak (Lance Novak) of Houston, Texas, and Marine 1st Lt. Bryce Newsham of Washington D.C. He was predeceased by his brothers Walter Newsham and William Newsham
Services will be scheduled at a later date in Stow, Mass. Anyone wishing to honor Chuck can make a contribution to the Green Mountain Club or the American Legion.
This article appears in The Animal Issue 2025.