Charles S. Trattler ’42

Charles died peacefully Oct. 12, 2016, surrounded by his family. He was 95.

Charles was born to Lillian and Irving Trattler Nov. 3, 1920, in New York City.

He graduated from Princeton in 1942 and went into service in World War II, serving as a captain in the Army Field Artillery and seeing combat in the South Pacific. After the war he joined the family firm, Ettco, which manufactured electric wire and cable. In 1951, he married Honey Kate Aberson. They recently celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary.

Always interested in the visual arts, Charles served as president of the Hofstra Museum of Fine Arts for several years during the 1960s.

He loved classical guitar and played it well, to his friends’ enjoyment. Flying was a part of his life. Charles had a commercial pilot’s license and often flew around the country and to the islands along the Eastern Coast with his wife, who is also a pilot.

In 1976 Charles, a lifelong skier, moved his family to the town of Dillon high in the Colorado Rockies, and became a real estate broker. Upon retirement, Charles and Honey moved to Yucca Valley to be close to family.

Charles is survived by his wife, Honey; daughter Sara and son-in-law John; daughter Rachel; son Thomas and his fiancée, Susie Newman; four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.