R. Charles Stockdale ’55

The son of Betty and Ray Stockdale, Charlie was born Oct. 20, 1933.

 He was a gifted student and musician and an electrical engineering major at Princeton. Charlie joined Tower, played trumpet in the band, and sang in the Nassoons and in a barbershop quartet. He roomed with Bruce Ramer, James Rubins, Rod Dayan, and Peter Brown at Tower Club.

Following Princeton, Charlie moved to Pittsburgh to work for U.S. Steel and met Rita Seibel, with whom he enjoyed 53 years of marriage and raised five children. Charlie was an active supporter of the YMCA throughout his life and brought his grandchildren to Deer Valley Family Camp for more than 15 years. Keenly interested in what was going on, Charlie devoured the nightly news, the local papers, and The New York Times (which also carried his beloved crosswords and Sudoku).

In 1984, Charlie went international, working in France, Indonesia, and Turkey, learning much about other cultures. In retirement, he and Rita volunteered to welcome international visitors to Pittsburgh. Charlie also helped seniors file their taxes.

He died Oct. 27, 2015, leaving Rita; his children, Andrew, James, Molly, Carolyn, and Justin; and eight grandchildren.