Charles Ferdinand Ilsley ’51

Charlie was born Oct. 24, 1929, in Milwaukee.

His forebear and namesake had come to Wisconsin from Maine and in 1849 founded the Marshall & Ilsley Bank with Samuel Marshall. Charlie came to us from the Asheville School, majored in economics, roomed with David Fogle and Dick Warren, was active in Glee Club and Triangle, and belonged to Tower Club.

After graduation he served for four years in the Navy as a fighter pilot. While stationed in Washington, D.C., he co-founded Hexagon, the musical review that continues to this day. Since Hexagon included women, the founders simply doubled the Triangle name.

Charlie earned a master’s in education from Harvard and also studied at the universities of Geneva, Wisconsin, and Michigan. He was assistant headmaster at the Breck School in Minneapolis for two years and taught at the Kingsbury School in Oxford, Mich., for five. For a period of time he ran the Ilsley School in Rochester, Mich.

Charlie died in Florida Aug. 28, 2006, of throat cancer. He is survived by his son, David Laurence Ilsley; grandchildren Lauren, Ryan, and Anne; and his sister, Lloyd Cutler.