Our Classmates

Charlie Ackerman

 

Charlie's senior candid photo.

Charlie Ackerman joined our class in May, 1967, near the end of his freshman year.

Here are excerpts from his obituary, which appeared in the Sunday Republican newspaper:

Charles H. Ackerman, 48, of Hampden Court, Monson, died Saturday, July 22, 2000 at home. He was a self-employed masonry contractor for many years.

Born in Charleston, S.C., he was a graduate of East Longmeadow High School and lived here for the past 23 years. He was a communicant of St. Patrick's Church.

He leaves his son, Charlie A. of Monson; two daughters, Jennifer M. Bartlett of Pompano Beach, Fla., and Joanne Ackerman of Monson; his mother, Margaret (Gunther) Serra of East Longmeadow; three brothers, David W. Ardis of Charleston, S.C., Dan Serra and Bob Serra, both of Monson; two sisters, Sandra L. LeFebvre of Minneapolis, Minn., and Paula J. Hinzman of East Longmeadow; three grandchildren; and his fiancé, Debbie Rogers of Monson.

Memorial Contributions may be made to the Monson Free Library, 2 High Street, Monson, MA., 01057.
 

Homeroom photo in Charlie's sophomore year. Row 1: Marlene Cabana, Stephanie Chmielewski, Susan Circosta, Donna Colapietro, Nancy Cauley, Mr. Alexander Kotrotsos (homeroom teacher). Row 2: Arlene Breau, Sandy Brennan, Marsha Coons, Andrea Burger, Allison Cox, Nancy Burritt. Row 3: Todd Cormier, Larry Bradley, Debbie Campanella, Nancy Bryson, Debra Butler, Janice Breen, Larry Cooper. Row 4: Tom Churchill, Dave Carpenter, Roger Campbell, Bob Clark, Charlie Ackerman, Steven Corey, Jeff Crary. Not pictured: Jeff Burton. 

Homeroom photo in Charlie's junior year. Front row: Mrs. Kathy Payne (homeroom teacher), Laura Bradley, Leslie Bergeron, Janet Betterley, Donna Anderson, Arlene Breau, Kendra Bowker. Row 2: Patricia Berard, Teresa Bagnall, Donna Bitzer, Debra Butler, Jean Bonin, Nancy Blaisdell, Christine Bortle. Row 3: Paul Battige, Larry Bradley, Janice Breen, Lynn Belliveau, Andrea Burger, Nancy Bryson, Sandra Andrews. Row 4: Lenny Beaulieu, Bill Anderson, Charlie Ackerman, Jim Bourque, David Sabourin, John Beery. 

  

1969 photo from the StageWest Theatre in West Springfield. Front row: Roy Esposito, Charlie Ackerman, Jack Evans, unknown gentleman, Peter Boucher, Ed Kopec, Dennis Kronenberg. Back row: Tom Gorman, Mark Hadeler. Photo courtesy of Roy Esposito.

Charlie poses with a few classmates following graduation. Front row: Mitch Dante, Charlie, Bill Kenyon, David Sand. Row 2: Rick Pesto, Bob "Albert" Price, Jack Evans, Dave Sabourin, Roy Esposito. Photo courtesy of Roy Esposito.

 

Charlie (left) with Baxter Yeaton (ELHS 1971) and Mark Gibson, a friend. Photo courtesy of Roy Esposito.

 

Left: Charlie works on an addition to classmate Roy Esposito's house, around 1980. Photo courtesy of Roy Esposito. Right: A close-up of Charlie from our 25th reunion photo in 1995. 

Charlie's headstone in Bethany Cemetery, Monson, MA, with the tools of his trade, a masonry hammer and trowel in the upper left corner; and a cross, reflecting his faith, in the upper right corner.
 
To see other tributes, click on the "Life Tributes" link to the left and then on the page of interest.



 
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12/17/09 01:41 PM #1    

Marilyn Gour (Kelly)

Charlie was a great, all-round, happy fellow. I have such warm and pleasant memories of him. When he first came to EL we knew he must be from parts unknown (southerner) because he wore either pink or yellow socks. Being northerners, we were horrified! Pastel socks! Unheard of! He took a lot of ribbing for that.
He was a member in Mitch Dante's garage band. Monica Barry lived down the street from Mitch. In the earlier days, we used to sit in Monica's brother, Bill's, bedroom, the one that faced Mitch's house,with our chins glued to the window sill, waiting to see if the light came on in the garage so we could take a "walk" by. Monica eventually dated Mitch and I, Charlie. We did everything together as a foursome. We used to go out to Charlie's father's farm in CT and swim in the pond or have picnics. I remember Charlie introducing me to Mountain Dew. Charlie taught me how to drive out there; the manual transmission had the stick on the column! We used to tool around in Mitch's Morris Minor and listen to Chicago on his 8 track.
Charlie had the greatest "Charlie-isms". For example, he was fond of saying, "Two for a nickel a piece." or "A hundred years from now, no one will ever know the difference."
He LOVED Janis Joplin. I can still remember his happy face when he came over to my house with the first album. We went to see her twice in person, once at Tanglewood and the other at the auditorium in Spfld.
We used to work on his car at night in his parents' garage as his cars were usually old clunkers, but we were happy to have a ride! It was the first (and last) time I became familiar with Bondo.
We used to drive down to Bradley International, have a cup of coffee and then watch the planes take off.
We went to my senior prom together.
Sadly, we drifted apart when I went to college and started working in the downtown Steigers. Years later he got in touch with me, but we never met. I heard about him from Monica and it was she who told me about his illness and subsequant death. He was way too innocent, uncomplicated, sweet and young to die so early. He had simple needs and was a kind person; I will always remember him with extreme fondness. RIP Charlie

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