Charles Franklin Martin II (1944 - 2023)


     

Photos: L - Freshman Herald                                   R - 25th Reunion Book

 

Charley, known as Charlie to many classmates, passed away on November 10, 2023 in Triangle, VA. A burial service will be held at Immanuel Anglican Church, located at 7075 Hoadly Road, Manassas, VA 20112, on December 9 at 10:30 am.

 

Additional information is on Charley's Legacy.com obituary and a more extensive obituary from the funeral home. The second obituary describes Charley's career after graduating Magna Cum Laude in Physics from Princeton and from the U. of Michigan with a Masters degree. He then went to work for the Navy for 31 years, first in the office of Admiral Hyman Rickover, Director of Naval Nuclear Propulsion, and then in direct energy conversion technologies. Charley then finished his career as a physics teacher at Potomac High School and Woodbridge Senior High School (Lake Ridge, VA), where he "selflessly gave his time and energy to teaching, tutoring, and inspiring students for more than a decade." "He is survived by his beautiful and loving wife, Linda; his sister, Katherine Martin; and brother, the Reverend Hallock Martin. He is preceded in death by his parents, Franklin and Margaret Newton Martin."

Tributes

While Charlie was not active in Class or Princeton affairs, he is remembered fondly by his friends and roommates who have sent the following tributes.

 

Bruce Furie:

I was Charlie’s roommate for 3 years. He disappeared years ago and I have tried to find him ever since. Fantastic, wonderful person. I will tell you everything that I know about Charley. Freshman year at Princeton he lived in 341 Witherspoon with Andy Sears, Mark Kozinn and George Kaplan. I lived below them in 331. He and I, from opposite sides of the geographic, political and religious spectrum, became close friends and roomed together for the next three years. Stu Steingold ... joined us only for our sophomore year. Chuck Kulczycki joined us only for our senior year. Charley and I attended Joe Brown’s sculpture class/studio regularly and hung out at the Engineering Quad playing with the IBM 7090 computer. We even pulled some all-nighters with the computer. When I took Physics 103-104, Charley was my tutor. He tried to teach me that from F=Ma, you could derive anything. He was smart, sweet and had a great disposition. He was from Sewanee TN and I knew his parents. Since I lived in NJ, I would take him home with me. My parents were very fond of him. With the Vietnam War, he joined the Naval ROTC and spent his upper class years spit shining his shoes. I recall his stack of dirty clothes in his room. When he ran out of clean stuff, he flipped the stack and started from the top. We all graduated together. He wished to pursue a PhD in Physics but the Navy would only give him time for a Master’s. Around this time he served as an officer on the aircraft carrier Intrepid. I was stationed in the US Public Health Service in Bethesda at the NIH, and Charley resurfaced. My wife and I were very fond of him and saw him regularly. This is 1972-74. We went to his wedding to Linda. I was a Groomsmen in an Edwardian tux. When we moved out of DC I lost touch with my friend. His records (reunions, alumni notes) with Princeton disappeared. However the early internet allowed to find him in Triangle VA. Via e-mail I learned that he had been in the Navy fueling nuclear subs, then left the Navy to continue this work as a civilian. He was preparing to retire and teach physics in high school. He was still married to Linda and they did not have children. We have never been able to find him since. And we are continually trying. Barbara and I really loved this guy. I had been concerned that he may have died prematurely so this announcement at least reassures me that that is not the case. He was a truly wonderful person and I have no idea why he abandoned the life associated with Princeton.

 

Terry Seymour:

I certainly remember Charlie from NROTC days. He was very private and I don’t have any undergraduate anecdotes to share. I do, however, have a much later anecdote. When my daughter, Linda, was a senior in college she was in NROTC. She went to Union College in Schenectady, NY but took her ROTC work at RPI. RPI was a very gung ho unit that pressed its students to apply to the nuclear power program. Even though she was an English major she was an outstanding student (Phi Beta Kappa) and was encouraged to apply. She got to the stage of interviews which consisted of two technical interviews and one “break down” interview. These latter were the invention of Adm. Rickover, but by then (1996) were being conducted by one of his successors. Charlie was one of the technical interviewers and he and Linda somehow discovered that she was my daughter and chatted about Princeton for a while. She was selected for nuclear power school and went on to a long naval career, retiring a few years ago as a Captain. I distinctly recall how delighted both Charley and Linda were with this association.

 

The best anecdote was the ‘break down” interview. Rickover conducted these personally for years. But in 1996 he had been dead for a decade. Whoever his replacement was tried to emulate Rickover’s technique for these interviews. The goal was to rattle, goad or otherwise intimidate a candidate to see how he/she handled the pressure. When it was Linda’s turn in the barrel the new Admiral snorted: “English major! You’ll never get past the first week in Nuclear Power School. I’d like to be on the Senior Golf Tour but I don’t have the talent. You are going to face the same thing.”
 

I always told Linda that it was a good thing she wasn’t a wise guy like her father. I would have said: “Sir, let me take a look at your grip. We can use this telescope on your desk. Hmm. I think if you turn your right hand under like this, it will solve all your problems.” Instead Linda just said: “I got an A in calculus and Physics. They are just other subjects. I am known for my ability to out-work all the other students.” Not rattled. Not a wise guy. She got in. But I think the interview with Charlie was the most pleasant part of her day. Linda's recollections are at the end after other classmate memories.

 

Tom Yin:

This is very sad news. I consider Charley a good friend as we lived together for two years after graduation from Princeton. I first met him when we joined Cloister Inn in our sophomore year. When we both chose to attend the University of Michigan for graduate school, it was natural that we decided to room together. Since neither of us knew anyone else in Ann Arbor when we arrived in the fall of 1966, we spent a lot of time together navigating graduate school and talking about the perils of the Vietnam War.
 
Charley was one of the smartest guys I ever met: a physics major, specializing in nuclear physics. He tried to educate me on the fundamentals of particle physics, but even though I was an Electrical Engineering major and had taken 4 physics courses at Princeton, the subject was just obtuse to me.  At Princeton he had joined the Navy ROTC program which allowed him only two years to Michigan to get a master’s, but not a Ph.D., degree. I always felt it was a shame that he didn’t stay to finish a Ph.D. because he certainly had the mind and skill set. 
 
He was also one of the nicest guys I ever knew. He was not at all a stereotypical physics major: he was gregarious in social situations and had lots of interests outside the classroom.  He was an excellent tennis player and liked many other sports, which we both enjoyed at the intramural level. He was competitive in a good way and could be deadly at gin rummy. In our second year in Ann Arbor, we were joined by another Princeton grad (’67) from Cloister Inn, Gene Estes who also excelled in athletics and in the classroom. We had many fun times together!  However, I am puzzled why he did not participate in any Princeton post-graduate activities and lost track of many old friends. As far as I knew, he had good memories of Old Nassau.
 
After finishing his Master’s degree in 2 years, Charley was commissioned to join Admiral Rickover’s nuclear submarine group in the DC area. We continued corresponding for a few years but he could not talk about his work which was confidential. In 1970 he asked me to be an usher at his wedding to Linda in Virginia. The ushers had to wear a fancy tuxedo which we received at the rehearsal dinner the night before. On the day of the wedding I neglected to bring a change of clothes so after the festivities were over, I had to leave the rented gear at the reception and drive home in my underwear. This was not a big problem until I reached my Uncle Dick’s house in Kensington where my future wife Lil and I were staying. My cousins who were ages 7-13 at the time were curious why I didn’t immediately get out of the car and Lil had to run up to our room to retrieve my clothes. Many years later we reminisced about this event and my cousin Sam found his childhood diary which recounted the event from his point of view. His entry: “…Tom had on a tuxedo.  …   Tom came back, Lil ran in and took him his pants and shirts.  He had to give back his tuxedo so he had nothing to wear on the return home, so he draped a blanket around.”
 

We exchanged Christmas cards with Charley and Linda for a number of years but then I lost track of them, probably during some move by one of us. After the internet search engines emerged, I tried to find his contact without success. It’s gratifying to learn that he had a successful career after the Navy teaching his favorite subject, physics. I have no doubt that he was a dynamic and inspiring teacher. He was a genuinely nice guy who could relate and empathize with anyone. I regret that I didn’t pursue finding Charley more diligently and I now note that there is contact information in our 50th reunion book. My heartfelt condolences to Linda and his family.

 

Mark Kozinn '65 (Entered with '66):

I am sorry to hear about Charlie. He was my roommate in freshman year in 1962-3. In 1964-5 he lived with Bruce Furie and Larry Eron in Cuyler. He was from St. Andrews, Tennessee where his father was headmaster of the St. Andrews School. He had a gift for physics in freshman year, so I am not surprised that he taught physics. He was a member of Cloister in his upper years. I will always remember him as being earnest and straight forward. He took pride in being in the Navy ROTC, and I suspect he served after he graduated  I have not had any contact with him since graduation.

 

Paul Mahlstedt:

Sorry to hear about Charlie Martin. Yes, he was NROTC but I can’t remember if he was “Regular (scholarship and 4 year obligation) or “Reserve” (two year obligation).  I remember him some, but don’t have any stories. From his obit, he was a “Nuke”, one of Adm RIckover’s team. I have added Steve Krum, who also was NROTC and a Nuke, so he may remember more.  Also Terry Seymour, NROTC and whose daughter was a Nuke, maybe the first female Nuke.

 

Stu Steingold:

Bruce, Larry, Andy Sears (who died so young), Charlie and I were sophomore year roommates in one of those large Dod Hall suites. Not sure whom he roomed with after sophomore year. He was such a nice guy and roommate. Unfortunately, I had no contact with him after graduation and don’t know why he disassociated himself from Princeton.

 

Linda Seymour (Terry Seymour's daughter and Charley's colleague)

Meeting Charley Martin made my day and, arguably, changed my life.

 

 

It was May 17, 1996. I was less than one month from graduating college, as an English Major; yet I found myself in Crystal City, VA, at Naval Reactors, undergoing my interviews to be accepted to the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power program: an enterprise I frankly undertook on a dare and what was the latest in what has subsequently proven to be a lifetime of self-induced adversity undertaken out of sheer stubbornness.

 
Did I mention I was an English Major interviewing to become a Naval Nuclear Engineer?  Oh, and this was the first year that women were authorized to serve in nuclear powered ships at sea.
 
For background, Naval Reactors is a part of the Department of Energy that has regulatory oversight over the nuclear propulsion program operated by the Department of Defense.  Its founding Director was Admiral Hyman G. Rickover; and Admiral Rickover’s vision of rigorous training and high standards of verbatim procedural compliance still anchor the Program today. As Admiral Rickover dictated in 1948, after two or three preliminary technical interviews by engineers on his staff, the Director personally interviews and approves of all Naval Officers who will be overseeing the supervision and operation of the nuclear propulsion plants on U.S. Navy submarines and surface vessels. On May 17, 1996, the Director was Admiral Bruce Demars, and it was the day after the Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Mike Boorda died by suicide, rocking both our Navy and our Nation. 
 

Needless to say, there was a lot of stress and uncertainty in the building, not just for female Midshipmen English majors aspiring to attend nuclear power school and ultimately become Naval Nuclear Engineers.

 

The interview process was (and likely still is) a Kafkaesque scene where aspiring nukes gather in a windowless room with other candidates, waiting for a phone to ring and then to be given a notecard with a room number.  When they get that notecard, they follow it to another stark room to meet with an engineer who will grill them on technical questions, sprinkled in with personal soul-searching inquiries, all of which often serve to make the candidate feel inadequate, ignorant, and incompetent. For my part, I had come out the other side of my first interview feeling like I may have been marginally successful at BS-ing my way through, and, for my second interview, I needed to really knock it out of the park if I had hope of being accepted, let alone avoid the dreaded third interview and miss lunch.

 
I was welcomed to my second interview by a remarkably affable engineer who offered a handshake and a smile.  Right off the bat, he declared it was a real treat to be able to talk to an English Major!  This man was Charley Martin.
 
He immediately set me at ease and made me feel not just comfortable, but welcome, in one of the most intimidating and unwelcoming places in our Nation’s Capital, let alone the Navy.
 
Mr. Martin asked me some physics and calculus questions interspersed with some questions about my goals in life and leadership.  With glee, I calculated the velocity of a pea shot off a cliff and graphed the concavity of functions, all while chatting away with what truly seemed to be the nicest man in Naval Reactors. Towards the end of the interview, he said to me that I really presented him with a dilemma: that he thought I really had an eye for physics and a knack for calculus, but that I was… a non-technical major… an English major (gasp!), so how would I really perform in the rigorous, technical world of the naval nuclear propulsion?  He said he was very puzzled because it seemed to him that going into college I was “an exactly equal person,” why did I choose to be an English major rather than a major in a technical field?  

When I quizzically asked him what he meant by “equal person,” he pointed out that my math and verbal SAT scores were identical. Being an engineer who regarded hard data as Truth, scores and figures meant everything to him – until he met me.  I told him that perhaps my decision about my focus in college was based more on my upbringing: like my father, I enjoyed reading and discussing literature over science experiments and theorems.  I told him my father was in the Navy and he was an English major who went to Princeton, so that heavily influenced my choices.

Mr. Martin said, “your father went to Princeton? What class?”  Proudly, I said, “Class of ’66!  His name is Terry Seymour.”  Charley’s face lit up like a lightbulb and he practically exclaimed, “I KNOW your father!” Thinking fondly on the times in my childhood spent at Princeton reunions, I excitedly asked Charley, “Are you going to the 30th next month?”

His enthusiasm waned a bit, he became a little shy, and said that he may not be attending. I told him that he really ought to consider it: “Reunions are so much fun!” I exclaimed, “There is a P-rade, you sleep in the dorms, bands play every night, and you can drink as much soda (or, in your case beer) as you want!  I’ll bet I have been to more reunions than you have!  My family goes almost every year—I have a few pairs of overalls and know how to do the locomotive—they're a blast!”

Even after my resounding endorsement of Princeton reunions, Charley seemed to balk at the thought of consorting with a large group of carousing classmates over working through the latest figures and design specs for Naval Reactors. Perhaps, though, his ruminations led him to realize that maybe this female English major did have a chance to succeed in nuclear power since, in the throes of an interview, she had the chutzpah to tell an NR Engineer how best to party.

 

He pretty much concluded the interview after our repartee turned awkward and told me that he was still undecided as to how he was going to recommend me; but, he said, I had “spunk.”  With that, he wished me luck and said he was sure I would succeed wherever I landed.

 

With that, I made my way back to the quiet, Kafkaesque room.  As I sat there and stared at the awkward, overly serious stuffy people, wondering if I could go to lunch today and ultimately be able to gloat that I passed all of my interviews, I was confident that I made one friend at Naval Reactors; and I couldn’t wait to tell Dad I met a long-lost classmate made a proud Princeton connection.
 

– Linda C. Seymour, CAPT, USN (retired), proud Navy Nuke and prouder daughter of Terry I. Seymour (Princeton Tiger, Class of ’66)

 

Andy Butz

This is how a '66 Tiger ought to be remembered! I knew Charley only slightly, although we shared many physics classes, but I never forget a kind face, and Charley obviously was the kind of person who was there for others at the right moment!  Special thanks to Linda Seymour, who was one of those lucky people who got a special boost in life from her close encounter with Charley. Best regards to all, and condolences to the Martin family and friends.

 

Photos

 

Additional condolences, memories, tributes, and pictures may also be shared on this memorial page by emailing to 66_MemorialTeam@tiger1966.org.