He was born on October 21, 1934 in Saginaw, Michigan, the only child of Charles A. Grobe, Sr. and Iva Hersinger Grobe. He spent his childhood in Saginaw and graduated from Saginaw’s Arthur Hill High School in 1952. While a senior there, he was awarded a full tuition scholarship to the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. He then proceeded to earn bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees from the University of Michigan, all in mathematics. While a graduate student at the University of Michigan, he served as a Teaching Fellow and a Research Assistant in mathematics. His primary mathematical interests were in special functions, simple sets of polynomials, and generating functions.
While a graduate student in Ann Arbor, he met Betsey Mendell, a fellow graduate student in mathematics, daughter of Clarence Whittlesey Mendell and Elizabeth Lawrence Mendell. They were married in New Haven, Connecticut on June 20, 1959.
After earning a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1964, he was appointed Instructor in Mathematics at Bowdoin College. He was promoted to Assistant Professor in 1965, to Associate Professor in 1970, and to Professor in 1975. He was especially proud of the fact that his wife became the first woman to hold a faculty position at Bowdoin College. Chuck, who was a gifted teacher and an able administrator, served four terms as Chair of the Mathematics Department. He also served as a consultant to the Undergraduate Program in Mathematics of the Mathematical Association of America and was a Visiting
Lecturer of the Mathematical Association of America. For several years, he served as Bowdoin College’s liaison to the Goldwater Scholarship Committee. He was a member of the American Mathematical
Society and the
Mathematical Association of America.
For over a decade, he served as Associate Director and then Director of Bowdoin’s Academic Year Institute in Mathematics. That program, which was funded by the National Science Foundation, was designed to upgrade and improve the teaching of secondary school teachers of mathematics. Successful participants, who came to Bowdoin College from throughout the country, were awarded a master’s degree in mathematics from Bowdoin. He coauthored A Mathematical Approach to Biology published by D. C. Heath. In addition, from 1982 through 2000, he and his wife coauthored a dozen Solutions Manuals for Elementary Linear Algebra, all published by John Wiley & Sons.
Chuck was a long- time summer resident at Swain’s Cove on Little Deer Isle, Maine. He was particularly fond of classical music and was an avid amateur photographer. He will be remembered for teaching early morning classes at Bowdoin College and for his love of old Volvos.
He is survived by his wife of 57 years, Elizabeth (Betsey) Mendell Grobe, their two sons, Carl W. Grobe of Westfield, MA and Frederick ( Fritz) D. Grobe of Buckfield, Maine, a daughter in-law, Deborah Lynn (Toothaker) Grobe of Westfield, MA, and two grandchildren, Zachary W. Grobe of Ithaca, NY and Sarah E. Grobe of Westfield, MA.
At his request, there will be no service. Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Curtis Memorial Library/23 Pleasant Street/Brunswick, ME 04011, to the Island Heritage Trust/PO Box 42/Deer Isle, ME 04627, or to CHANSHospice/ 60 Baribeau Drive/ Brunswick, ME 04011.
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