Mr. Charles Tice
Cullum:600733
Class:'65
Cadet Company:L2
Date of Birth:May 8, 1942
Date of Death:September 14, 2022 - View or Post a Eulogy
Charles Calvert “Chuck” Tice was born
in New York City, NY, the son of Merton B. Tice and Elfrieda Freeman.
Soon after his birth, his father was activated as a second lieutenant
in the U.S. Army and headed for Fort Benning, GA. Chuck and his mother
traveled to the senior Tice’s home in Mitchell, SD. During World War
II, the Tices lived for a time at Fort Benning, where Chuck’s brother,
Merton B. Tice Jr., was born. After the war, his sister, Virginia, was
born and the family remained in Mitchell.
Chuck excelled academically, played basketball for his high school, and was an enthusiastic Boy Scout, achieving Eagle Scout status. He was active in his community as a member of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church. He formed the Mitchell Society for Rocket Research and Development, sending up a rocket in 1959.
The Tice family traveled throughout the United States every summer as his father served as the national commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Chuck remembered meeting many famous Americans at these events. The family’s accommodations were often in a hotel suite equipped with a television, which the family did not have at home in the early ’50s. Once, when (then) Vice President Nixon came to greet the family, Chuck was gracious in welcoming the vice president but quickly excused himself to return to a fascinating TV program he had been watching.
While attending the University of South Dakota, where he majored in chemistry, Chuck received an appointment to the United States Military Academy in June 1961 from Senator Francis Case. Joining the Class of 1965 at the Academy, Chuck was a very popular cadet with his classmates. He had a great sense of humor and was always willing to help others. Although he did have a rough plebe year, as his tall stature attracted upperclassmen (who gave him much attention), Chuck made it through with his head held high and his steady, cheerful attitude.
In the crisp, West Point fall one year, Chuck joined with some of his classmates for a nighttime adventure designed to raise the spirits of the Corps of Cadets prior to the annual Army-Navy Football Game. After “Taps” was played and the campus was quiet, the group, camouflaged in dark clothing, snuck over to the tall, imposing Battle Monument, intent on hoisting a “Beat Navy” pennant to the top of the granite monolith. Unfortunately, the monument was too formidable, and the mission had to be abandoned. On their stealthy way back to their barracks, the cadets were surprised by the lights of an approaching vehicle, and all dropped to a prone position on the Plain. Fortuitously, they were not spotted and returned safely to their rooms and beds. It was an unsuccessful prank, but a lasting memory.
Chuck did well in academics, having a solid grounding with his previous studies. He also excelled at physical fitness. His major challenge was with the Tactical Department. Chuck tried hard to comply with the exacting rules and regulations of cadet life but unfortunately ran up a significant number of demerits, which led to his leaving the Academy at the end of his third year. Still, his respect for West Point never waned, as he was an associate member of the Association of Graduates for the rest of his life.
Chuck met his wife, Pam, while he was a cadet at the Academy. As cadet manager for the Army Baseball Team for a game at Harvard, Chuck was tasked to organize an after-game party in Cambridge, MA. Pam answered the call from her sorority house, although she was supposed to be studying for her semester finals at Boston University. Their chance meeting has been turned into a hilarious skit by the younger members of her family, performed at their 50th anniversary party. Shortly after leaving the Academy, Chuck was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and spent the remainder of his life in pursuit of a daily routine of good practices that enabled him to live a long life. He accepted with pride a 50-year medal from the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston.
Chuck completed his undergraduate degree at New York University. His work life was in information technology development in the financial sector in New York City, but local politics were always of great interest. He became the first president of Community Free Democrats on the city’s Upper West Side, a club that has remained active for over 50 years. Chuck played a key role in the first campaign of Congressman Jerrold Nadler, past chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
Over their 54 years together, Chuck and his wife, Pam, spent many summer weeks in South Wellfleet, MA at her family’s cottage, which eventually became their second home and a gathering place for family and neighbors over the years. The annual rite of going to the beach and riding the waves, biking, and hiking turned into more sedentary visits in later years, when Chuck and Pam hosted “porch parties” for neighbors and family.
Chuck’s life was full—full of dedication, integrity, curiosity, adventure, laughter, and love. The guiding West Point principles of Duty, Honor, County formed as a cadet became part of Chuck’s character and never left it.
Well Done, Chuck; Be Thou at Peace.
— Pamela F. Tice and Charles C. McCloskey
