Charles Cuttle

On the morning February 26, 2020, after 98 years on this earth, the time finally came for Charles Robert Cuttle to partir. Mr. Cuttle often concluded meals with family, friends, or his fellow rotarians by asking “shall we partir,” and then explaining that it translated to “leave” in French. It was a phrase that Mr. Cuttle may have picked up during his time in the 179th Signal Repair Company attached to Patton’s Third Army during World War II. Perhaps he learned it after landing on Utah Beach in Normandy in July of 1944, or at the chateau where his unit bivouacked after the Battle of the Bulge. Whatever the origins of his favorite French lesson, if you shared a meal with “Charlie” over the last several decades, you probably learned what it meant to partir. Charles Robert Cuttle was born to the late Percy Charles Cuttle and Cora Mosely Cuttle (Williams) on June 16, 1921, in Atlanta, Georgia. Following his father’s untimely death, Charles and his mother moved to Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he spent much of his formative years. Growing up in the throws of the great depression, Charles graduated from Spartanburg High School in 1939 and matriculated to Clemson College that same year. He graduated from Clemson with a degree in Textile Engineering in 1943, becoming the fourth generation of his family to work in textiles. During his time at Clemson, Charles was a member of the Spartanburg County Clemson Club and wrote for the Bobbin and Beaker, a student publication of the Clemson School of Industrial Management and Textile Science. In an article entitled “Textile Lighting” from the April 1943 edition, Charles set forth the many advantages of fluorescent lighting in textile manufacturing applications. He continued to distribute this article to family, friends, and visitors nearly seventy seven years after its original publication. After graduation from Clemson, Charles entered the U.S. Army in August of 1943, destined for the Army Corps of Engineers. He was, however soon reassigned to the 179th Signal Repair Company because his eyesight was so poor that he could “hardly read the big E on the eye chart without glasses!” Undeterred, Charles served his country repairing tank radios as Patton’s Third Army liberated Europe. In April 1945, Charles arrived at the recently liberated Buchenwald concentration camp. Using a Kodak Duo 620 camera shipped to Europe by his stepfather, Charles photographically documented the atrocities he witnessed. Though for many years after the war he was reticent about his experiences, in recent years he shared these photographs in presentations to church and civic groups, hoping to educate the public on the horrors of the Holocost and to do his part to prevent it from happening again. Charles returned to Spartanburg in December of 1945 after 28 months abroad. His first job after the war was as a cost engineer at Milliken & Company’s Excelsior Woolen Mills in Union, South Carolina. It was while working at Excelsior Mills that Charles met his first wife, Catherine Deaver Cuttle. They were married in Union, South Carolina, on April 5, 1947, and a son, Charles Robert Cuttle Jr., was born in 1949. In 1955, the Cuttle family moved to Danville, Virginia, when Charles was hired to work in the cost accounting department at Dan River Mills. A daughter, Frances, soon followed. After 28 years of dedicated service, Charles retired from Dan River Mills as a fabric cost accountant in 1983. Charles was an elder at First Presbyterian Church of Danville, Virginia. He served as unofficial photographer for many church functions and was rarely seen without a camera around his neck. He and his wife, Elizabeth Braddy “Lib” Cuttle who he married June 23, 1979, were pillars of the First Presbyterian family well into their nineties. Serving the Lord by serving others with their time and talents has always been a part of their lives together for over 40 years. Charles was committed to many civic projects. He was an active member of the Danville Museum of Fine Arts and History, the Danville Association of Retarded Citizens and the Exchange Club. Charles was also a dedicated Rotarian, becoming a Paul Harris fellow and then an honorary member of the Danville Rotary Club. In addition to his wife, Lib, Charles is survived by his daughter, Frances Cuttle Newby, and her husband, Parks, of Raleigh, North Carolina, and a grandson, John P. Newby, Jr., also of Raleigh, North Carolina. He was predeceased by his wife Catherine Deaver Cuttle, and his son, Charles Robert Cuttle, Jr. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, February 29, 2020, at 2:00 PM at First Presbyterian Church, 937 Main Street, Danville, Virginia. Burial military honors will follow at Mountain View Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the church prior to the service, from 12:30 to 1:30 PM. In lieu of flowers, please consider memorials to First Presbyterian Church, Danville, Virginia, or Providence Baptist Church, Raleigh, North Carolina. Townes Funeral Home and Crematory, 215 West Main Street, is respectively serving the Cuttle family. Online condolences may be directed to www.townesfuneralhome.com.