Charles B. Officer, Jr. (Chuck)89, died peacefully on Wednesday, April 13, 2015 at Harvest Hill in Lebanon.

Born in Evanston, IL on December 15, 1926 to Charles and Ethyl Officer, he was raised in Claremont, NH. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy, graduating in 1944 at which time he joined the Naval Air Corps. The Navy sent him to college and he attended Williams before being transferred to Brown University, where he completed his undergraduate studies. He went on to get graduate degrees from Wesleyan and Yale before earning his Ph.D. from Columbia University in Oceanography.

He was employed by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute as a scientist and it was there that he met the love of his life, Trix, who he married in 1951. After working at Woods Hole, he accepted a teaching position at Rice University in Houston, TX. After achieving tenure at Rice he struck out on his own to create a consulting company which he built up into Alpine Geophysical Associates, Inc., a scientific research and engineering company, located in Norwood, NJ. While working at Alpine, he ran for congress from the second district of NH and lost by just a few hundred votes in one of the closest elections in NH history.

In 1968, he left the business world to return to his scientific roots and moved his family to Hanover, where he started a scientific writing career that would span several decades and resulted in over 10 books, including the bestseller, "Tales of the Earth." He also taught many classes at Dartmouth in both the Earth Sciences Dept. and Thayer School of Engineering over the years and is still remembered fondly by his many students.

Beyond his educational and professional achievements, the other major part of his life was his enduring love for his wife Trix and the 8 children they raised together. Married for almost 64 years before her passing last September, they were life partners in every sense and complemented each other is so many ways. Being raised as an only child, he wanted a big family around him and while he got a bit more than he originally bargained for he was dedicated to his children and basked in their many and varied achievements. He liked nothing more than welcoming his children, their spouses and later their children, back home to their big house in Hanover and spending long hours around the dinner table telling stories.

He will be greatly missed by his large family and by all who knew him and loved him.

He is survived by his children Tom and Ashley Officer, Susan Johnson, Caroline and Tom Ewing, John and Cathy Officer, Chuck and Veronique Officer, Peter and Jane Officer, Bob and Karen Officer, David and Angie Officer and their many children and grandchildren. May he rest in peace.

Calling hours will be from 6:00pm to 8:00pm on Friday, April 15 at Rand-Wilson Funeral Home, Hanover, NH. A funeral service will be held at 11:00am on Saturday, April 16 at St. Denis Catholic Church, Hanover, NH followed immediately by a burial service at Pine Knoll cemetery. A reception from 12:45pm to 3:00pm at The Canoe Club, Hanover, NH will follow and all are welcome.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made on his behalf to: Helping Hands of St. Denis, 8 Sanborn Road, Hanover, NH 03755.

Arrangements are under the direction of Rand-Wilson Funeral Home of Hanover, NH.