Charles Ernest Ihloff was born in August of 1935 to Mildred and Ernest Ihloff in Bristol, Conn.; encouraged to read using proper English, his foundation was born. Charlie’s father, a Lafayette College grad, was therefore informed of a Ford Foundation experiment designed to determine where high school and college development overlapped. Two weeks after his 16th birthday, he entered their Early Admission Program, graduating with a BA in History.

He met many of the foremost theologians of the day at Union Seminary, subsequently graduating from Andover Newton Theological Seminary. He interned as an Associate Protestant Chaplain at Boston University and practice taught at both Emerson College and Suffolk University, experiences informing his decision to seek parish ministry. Chuck was ordained in the United Church of Christ in 1959.

Having met and married a nursing student, Joan Amendola and having two children, Cathy and Ernie, the family moved to Portland, Maine, where he specialized in youth work at the State Street Church. He served his first parish, a federation of American Baptist and Congregational Churches in Brooklyn, Conn. In those 16 years, he did the academic work on a master’s degree in Old Testament Theology, began his 64 year career as a volunteer firefighter, served on committees on alcoholism etc., while chairing the committee that built the local junior high school.

Divorced from Joan, who died in 1978, Chuck was called to the Congregational Church of South Hadley Falls, where he served for 20 years. A special time for the church was his marriage to Holly Henion, an artist he’d met through the youth program at Conn. Baptist Camp Wightman, where both enjoyed Youth Ministry. Chuck earned his Doctorate in Family Systems Therapy from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary of Philadelphia in 1991.

Called to Casco, Maine, in 1994, he helped modernize the church building and retired on Jan. 1, 2000; he served as Interim Pastor for over six years in three parishes and was the settled pastor in Cornish for eight-plus years.

A true Renaissance Man, Chuck stands out in four ways: active youth programs in each of his churches and over 50 weeks as counselor at church conferences in two states. Understanding committee structure, he was scribe and moderator of the Conference Association, always active at the state level. He was a lifelong scholar, devouring multiple books weekly, all topics. He was instrumental in building projects wherever he went. World travel mattered.

Chuck leaves his treasured wife Holly, his brother and sister-in-law, an extended family of son and daughter with spouses, three grandchildren and two great-grandsons, 16 nieces and nephews, and his lifelong devotion to kindness and the Christian faith.

A Memorial Service will be held at Casco Village Church, 941 Meadow Road, Casco, on Friday, Feb. 10 at 1 p.m. All are welcome.

Arrangements are in the care of the Hall Funeral Home in Casco, www.hallfuneralhome.net.