Charles Daniel Trexler ’35

A lifelong New Yorker, Trex died at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital in Manhattan Feb. 20, 2002.

Born in Brooklyn, Trex was the grandson of a Lutheran minister and son of the one-time president of the United Lutheran Synod in New York and New England. There were few early hints, though, that Trex would follow in their footsteps. At Brooklyn Polytechnic School, his chief interests seem to have been dramatics and debate. At Princeton he majored in modern languages, was on the fencing team, and joined Terrace Club and Theatre Intime.

After graduating, Trex first worked as a professional stage manager and actor, with performers such as Ethel Barrymore, Jose Ferrer '33, and Jimmy Stewart '32. During World War II, Trex joined the Army as a private, participated in the North African and Normandy invasions, and rose swiftly in rank. By V-E Day he was a lieutenant colonel and, in recognition of his work as a chief of special services in France, was awarded the Medaille de la Reconnaissance Française.

Upon returning home, Trex enrolled in the Lutheran Seminary in Philadelphia. He was ordained in 1949, and soon thereafter became pastor of the Good Shepherd Church on Long Island, a post he held until retirement in 1989. He never married. His survivors are his nephew, Roderick E. Kerr Jr., and an adopted son, Wanchai Panmunin.

The Class of 1935