NECROLOGY 175 



IX MEMORIAM: FRED LEMAR CHARLES. 

 Eluot R. Dowxixg. 



Fred Lemar Charles was bom at Aurora. Illinois, Xovember 15, 

 1874. His father was then Count}- Superintendent of King 

 County ; his mother, a woman of culture, of sensitive and poetic 

 temperament. He attended school in the graded schools and 

 high school of Austin, Illinois, then went on to North western 

 Universit}', where he graduated, and later attended the University 

 of Chicago, from which institution he received his master's 

 degree. Two stunmers were spent at Woods Hole, Massachusetts, 

 and it was while we were there together that the author of this 

 sketch formed that friendship for Mr. Charles which lasted until 

 the time of his death, as did all friendships with this man. ^^'hen 

 once you were taken into the circle of his intimates, the attach- 

 ment was bound to be a Hfe-long attachment. 



He began his teaching in Lakeview High School, then went to 

 the Northern Illinois State Normal at DeKalb. in which institu- 

 tion he remained for ten years, 1899-1909, as head of the Depart- 

 ment of Biolog}-. He was then called to the Universit}- of Illi- 

 nois, as Assistant Professor of Agricultural Education. In 

 Tanuar}% 1910, he assumed the editorship of the Nature-Study 

 Re^^ew, which magazine he continued to edit until his death. 



In 1904 he married Miss Elsie Davis, and shortly afterv\-ards 

 built the house in DeKalb which was their home, and the home 

 of their two children, for several years. Mr. Charles' home life 

 was ideal, his devotion to his family was untiring, and in his 

 home he fotmd his largest enjo}Tnent. 



He was a man of sterling worth, lovable and loyal, conscien- 

 tious and upright, brilliant and determined. He was sensitive to 

 a degree, artistic and poetic, a man who was not only a student of 

 nature, but a thorough lover of nature. I quote from Professor 

 \V. C. Bagley : 



"But there was another side to his life, and there was another 

 t\-pe of influence that he exerted over those who knew him well. 

 ^^'hen a man is in almost constant physical pain: when he feels 

 that he is gradually but surely losing his grip on the threads of 

 life; and when, tmder this condition, he can clinch his teeth as 

 Charles did. and work on steadfastly while only the great dark 

 looms up before him: when he can mingle with his friends and 

 live in close association with his fellow-workers without once re- 



