COLONEL CHARLES S. BEACH, USAFR, VICE PRESIDENT, CONNECTICUT LIGHT & POWER (NORTHEAST UTILITIES / EVERSOURCE).

Col. Beach, Ashlar Village, Wallingford, husband of the late Lois Schneider Beach who died in 1986, died Saturday, December 19, at Midstate Medical Center in Meriden, CT. Prior to moving to Wallingford in December 2008, he had been a resident of Newington for 39 years. He is survived by one son, Jeffrey W. Sr. of Marlborough, MA, three grandchildren; Jeffrey, Jr. of Urbandale, IA; Justin, of Clovis, CA, and Jennifer, of Sanger, CA; six great grandchildren; two sisters: Beverly B. Grant of Hudson, OH, Drusilla B. Powden of Peacham, VT, and several nieces and nephews. Col. Beach's first son, Charles III, died in 2014. Col. Beach was a retired Vice President of Connecticut Light and Power Co. (CL&P), a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities (now Eversource), and a Colonel in the United States Air Force Reserve. Col. Beach was born in Castleton, VT, attended schools in Poultney, VT, graduated from Middlebury College (VT), and attended the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts, the University of Bridgeport, the University of Michigan, and the Institute of Human Relations, Yale Graduate School. Following graduation from Middlebury College in 1942, where he earned his private pilot's license, he enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps and joined the Civilian Pilot Training Program. He completed the program as an instrument flight-training instructor for Northeast Airlines in Burlington, VT. and entered active duty with the Army Air Corps, where he was commissioned a Lieutenant and piloted Mitchell B-25 aircraft for the duration of the war. His later Reserve Service included assignments at Headquarters of the Eighth Air Force and the Connecticut Reserve Component of the Selective Service System. He retired as Commander of that unit. Col. Beach began his career with Connecticut Light & Power Company (CL&P) in Waterbury, CT, as a management trainee working in sales, accounting, customer service and gas and electric operations. He established a Customer Response System combining appliance repair, meter service, and accounting information into a single system, which was a prototype of the system used throughout Northeast Utilities for many years. Similarly, he implemented a prototype office support system for gas and electric operations. Following his training and field experience, he was successively Sales Manager, Area Manager, District Manager, Division Manager and in 1977 Col. Beach was elected a Vice President, Western Region, based in Waterbury. While in Waterbury, he initiated a unique employee recognition program known as "The Best in The West", which was successfully developed and administered by non-supervisory employees. He served on various corporate committees including the Northeast Utilities Safety and Health Committee and the CL&P contract negotiating committee.

2. Col. Beach's many civic, church and military activities included: Co-Founder and Charter Campaign Chair Northwestern Community Fund; Junior and Senior Warden, St. James Church (Winsted); Junior Warden Grace Church (Newington); Chair Board of Education (Hartland); Chair of Region #5 of the Connecticut Boards of Education, member of the Republican Town Committee (Hartland); Charter Chair Essex

Conservation Commission; Charter Leader Cub Scout Program (Higganum); Management Instructor for USAF and the University of Hartford; Director of Winsted and Middlesex Hospitals; Connecticut River Estuary Council; member of several Boy Scout Councils; Regional Planning Commission (Waterbury); Matatuck Community College Foundation (Waterbury); Visiting Nurses Association (Winsted); Past –President of Rotary International (Winsted); Director of Rotary International (Middletown); Past-President Chamber of Commerce (Winsted); Past Chair of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Society of Utility Investors; Corporator Liberty Savings Bank (Middletown); Member of the Mayor's Committee for Economic Development (Waterbury); Member of the Board of Directors of the Naugatuck Valley Development Corporation; Chair of Memorial and Gifts Committee and member of Pastoral Care Group of Grace Church, Newington. Prior to his death, he had been a member of the Advisory Board and Director Emeritus of American Savings Bank; Director of the American Savings Foundation, New Britain, CT.; member and former Chair of the Scholarship Committee of the Association of Retired Employees of Northeast Utilities and a volunteer at Jefferson House (Newington) affiliated with Hartford Hospital. A 32nd degree Mason, he was a member of St. Andrews Lodge in Winsted and Ashlar Lodge in Wallingford, Shriners Sphinx Temple, Sheiks and Legion of Honor units and various other Masonic bodies, including the National Sojourners (Past President of Chapter 56) and Past Adjutant of Heroes. He was also a member of the Advisory Board of the Friends of the Library (Newington); Jared Starr Men's Group at Grace Church; Life and Charter Member of the Lifelong Learning Assn. (Tunxis Community College); Connecticut Genealogical Society; Connecticut Historical Society; the American Association of Individual Investors; National Assn. Investors Council; Charter Member Middlebury College Gamaliel Painter Society; Class agent: member of the Founders Society Middlebury College; and numerous other civic, veteran and military organizations.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Memorial Garden Fund, Grace Church, 124 Maple Hill Ave., P.O. Box 310258, Newington, CT 06111-0258; the Masonic Charity Foundation, P.O. Box 70, Wallingford, CT 06492; or a charity of the donor's choice. Burial will be at the family's convenience.