CHARLES F. BRAGG II

BANGOR – Charles Fred Bragg II, 96, died June 12, 2007, at his home. Charlie was born Dec. 20, 1910, in Bangor, the son of Franklin Everett and Grace (Woodbury) Bragg. Charlie was a member of the Bangor High School, Class of 1927, spent two years at Phillips Exeter and majored in history at Amherst College, graduating in 1932, summa cum laude, at the top of his class. In the early summer of 1937, a Norwegian nurse, Anna Host, visited Bangor and Charlie, as one of the eligible bachelors in town, reluctantly agreed to escort her to a party at the country club. By the end of the summer he had convinced her to marry him. They were married March 30, 1938, in the American Cathedral, Paris, and spent the rest of their married life in Bangor. Anna died in 1996, at age 92. Charlie entered the family business, NH Bragg and Sons, in fall 1932, succeeding his father as president in 1951. After his retirement, Jan. 1 1981, he served as chairman of the board, and then as a board member when his nephew, Clif Eames, took over the position of chairman. Charlie’s service to public education began in the late 1940s. He served on the Bangor School Committee and was chairman at the time of the construction of the high school on outer Broadway. He also served on the State Board of Education from 1962 to 1972 and was a member of the University of Maine Development Council until his death. He was a member of the Bangor Rotary Club from 1946 until his death and a lifelong member of All Souls Congregational Church. Among the many civic organizations that he served were the United Way, Mount Hope Cemetery Corporation, Bangor Theological Seminary, Maine Conference of United Church of Christ, Bangor Public Library, Bangor Mechanic Association and the Community Health and Counseling Center, from which he only very recently retired as treasurer. As a lover of the arts, especially classical music, he was a faithful listener of the Saturday afternoon opera broadcasts. He sang in his college glee club, in Gilbert and Sullivan productions with the Savoyards, and for 49 years in the choir of All Souls Church. He supported the Bangor Symphony, the Penobscot Theater, the Gilbert and Sullivan Society and the MCA Chamber Music Series. Charlie began writing weekly family letters when his oldest child began college in 1957. These letters create a chronicle of family history and also of Bangor history from that period to the present. Always interested in history, he supported the historical society and saw to the completion of written histories of Mount Hope Cemetery and the Bangor Public Library. For the past couple of years he had been advocating for a comprehensive history of the city of Bangor. Known as “Grandpa” not only to his grandchildren, but to all their friends, he instilled in his children and grandchildren a love of music and the arts, an appreciation for the written word, a strong work ethic and a sense of responsibility and respect for all. He was predeceased by his wife, Anna; and two sisters, Frances Bragg Eames and Eleanor Bragg. He is survived by his three children, Phoebe Puppione and husband, Don, of Encino, Calif., Franklin E. Bragg, M.D., and his wife, Jane, and John W. Bragg and his wife, Theresa, all of Bangor; grandchildren, Alicia and Gregory Puppione, Jennifer Bragg, Allison Tunick, Timothy and Emily Bragg, Christine Mihan and Abigail Bragg; a stepgrandson, Matthew Cary; three great-grandchildren, Avery, Harper and Charlie; several nieces, nephews and cousins. Friends may call 4-7 p.m. Thursday, June 14, at Brookings-Smith, 133 Center St., Bangor. A funeral service will be held 2 p.m. Friday, June 15, at All Souls Congregational Church, 10 Broadway, Bangor, with the Rev. Renee Garrett, minister of Christian Nurture, officiating. Interment will be at Mount Hope Cemetery, Bangor. The family invites relatives and friends to share conversation and refreshments in the church vestry immediately after the funeral service. Those who wish to remember Charlie in a special way may make gifts in his memory to Community Health and Counseling Services, P.O. Box 425, 42 Cedar St., Bangor, ME 04402-0425, the University of Maine Foundation, Two Alumni Place Orono, ME 04469 or Bangor Public Library, 145 Harlow St., Bangor, ME 04401. Condolences to the family may be expressed at www.BrookingsSmith.com