2021

I had a nice long chat with Charlie Obrecht, my featured class grad for this year. I believe he’s the only class member still living in the house in which he raised his family. His house on Roland Avenue is so close to the Gilman campus, if he was any closer he’d have to start taking classes again.

Charlie and wife Margaret (Peggy) raised two boys and a girl and now have six grandchildren.. I forgot to ask him, but I believe both boys went to Gilman and their daughter to Bryn Mawr.

Charlie spoke with pride about Peggy and the fact that she had been the first director of church relations at the U.S. Holocaust Museum in D.C.

A graduate of Princeton, he went into industrial real estate development after graduation.

I asked Charlie if they did much traveling as his kids were growing up. He said they had spent some time in England now and then, as Peggy’s mother was British.

During Ludlow Baldwin’s and Reddy Finney’s time as headmaster, Charlie became a board member for some years and was pleased to mention that he had started up the annual giving program during that period.

I asked if he was still getting together with Bill Blue, Dick Gatchell, Chipper Hoff and Tom Waxter for their monthly luncheons. He said they had not met for a while because of COVID, but he expected they’d be starting up again soon.

Just for fun, I asked if he had any fondest memories of his days at Gilman. He said they would be the support of the faculty members, both during his days at Gilman and the years after.

reported by Bruce Follmer '52