1915 – 2013

GARDINER — Charles N. Corey Jr., died at his home in Gardiner on Sunday, Aug. 11. He was 98.

“Nels” was born in Lynn, Mass., the son of Charles N. Corey Sr., and Maryetta Sherman in 1915. He was raised in Newburyport, Mass., along with a brother, Raymond, and sister, Lillian, who predeceased him.

He graduated from Newburyport High, then spent a year at Governor Dummer Academy as a post-graduate. He attended Bowdoin College from 1935-1939, where he excelled as a student and athlete winning nine letters in football, hockey and baseball, captaining the football team in 1938, being elected as a Williamson All American tackle the same year and an All New England goalie in hockey.

During World War II, Nels served as a Naval officer on the staff of Admiral William “Bull” Halsey in the South Pacific. He married Kathleen A. Monaghan of Gardiner in 1947. Between 1948 and 1954, he taught and coached at MCI, Colby College and Williams College, before returning to Bowdoin College as an assistant in football on the staff of Adam Walsh.

From 1959-1964, he was head coach of football at Bowdoin; he also started a lacrosse program at the school in 1958. In 1960 and 1963, his teams won the Maine State Series defeating the University of Maine, along with Colby and Bates. From 1965-1980, he was the athletic director as well as head football and lacrosse coaches at Hotchkiss School in Lakeville, Conn., where his teams were perennial championship contenders.

In 1980, he and his wife “Kaye” retired to Gardiner.

Nels is a member of the Maine Sports Hall of Fame, the Bowdoin College Hall of Honor and in 1976, was awarded the Martin William Souders Award, which had previously been given to such dignitaries as George Bush, former Massachusetts Gov. Leverett Saltonstall and Daniel Hanley M.D., former Bowdoin physician and Olympic physician.

There are endowed scholarships at both Hotchkiss School and Bowdoin College in his honor.

Nels is survived by his wife, Kaye; sons, Charles and Jeff; daughter-in-law, Sarah; and three grandchildren, Maggie, Nels and James.