ROCKLAND — Charles “Charlie” G. Allen, 69, died peacefully at Sussman House in Rockport on March 30 of complications from Parkinson’s Disease and dementia.

He was born in Newton, Massachusetts, October 8, 1949, the son of Robert B. and Ruth L. Allen.

This gentle and funny man grew up in a family of seven children where a sense of humor was a matter of survival. Humor remained an essential component of Charlie’s life whether as a quick one liner with friends and family or in the joyous way he taught his students in the classroom.

Charlie spent his early years in Medfield, Massachusetts, and attended Winnicunett High School in Hampton, New Hampshire where his family had moved when he was a sophomore. Quick on his feet, Charlie made a place for himself on the school’s football team despite weighing less than 140 pounds. While in high school Charlie began to play the guitar, the instrument he would master and enjoy up to the final weeks of his life.

Charlie graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a major in political science and a minor in education. While there, he took up the mandolin, banjo and fiddle and enjoyed playing music with friends at contra dances and gatherings.

Charlie’s search for a deeper truth took him many places after college including a bike trip from New Hampshire to Michigan and eventually to an ashram in Massachusetts. Upon leaving the ashram he joined his sister Beth as cook at The Corner Shop in Rockport. It was there in the summer of 1975 that Charlie met his future wife, Lynn Hower, who was a student at the Maine Photographic Workshops.

Lynn found Charlie’s curly dark hair, bright blue eyes, and sense of humor irresistible and she began sitting at the lunch counter with a view of the grill so she could enjoy watching Charlie flip eggs and pancakes. Eventually, he noticed her.

Charlie and Lynn joined forces first in running “Light Lunch,” a food truck that traveled the Midcoast and, in turn, The Corner Shop itself until they sold the business in 1979.

Charlie returned to school to complete his teaching certification and the couple married in 1980. In the fall of 1982 Charlie began teaching in Jefferson where he remained for seven years teaching first, second and transitional first grades. In 1989 he began teaching third grade at Union Elementary where he remained until he retired in 2008.

Charlie and Lynn lived in Union for nearly 40 years first in a fixer-upper and ultimately in a passive solar home they built in 1987. There they raised their two sons Graham and Myles, created a large organic garden, and tended their fruit trees.

Charlie always valued good health. He biked and ran, participating with “Team Wimp” for many years in the Maine Sport Triathlon and running numerous 5Ks, 10Ks and half-marathons in the state. He was a life-long vegetarian and set aside time for meditation daily.

But Charlie was most in his element in the classroom where music and creativity, kindness and humor would be his legacy. His teaching was characterized by bringing out the best in each student. He employed a playful touch with instruction that engaged even reluctant scholars.

He drew the week’s spelling words from folk songs, teaching his students the song while he played his guitar; he had the students make maps with pudding; he taught math using popcorn and cribbage boards and a game he told the students was called “twenty one” (Black Jack!); he had students write plays to bring to life fables and stories with students acting out the parts or using puppets they made themselves.

These he would video tape for all to enjoy. On many occasions through the years Lynn enjoyed witnessing a grown man approach Charlie in public to say earnestly, “Mr Allen, you were my favorite teacher!” While teaching, Charlie served as a coach for numerous Odyssey of the Mind/Destination Imagination teams two of which went to the internationals in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Music remained a passion for Charlie and he performed locally for many years as a co-founder of the band Playin’ Possum. He played informally with numerous other musicians as long as he was able.

Charlie was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in November, 2008. Despite the impact of this disease on his body and mind, he was able to enjoy trips to see his son Graham perform in New York and Florida; visit son Myles in NYC while he was working for Bill Moyers; and the entire family enjoyed a trip to Ireland in 2011 to trace Charlie’s Irish roots in County Cork. In 2015, as Parkinson’s increasingly asserted itself, Charlie and Lynn made the decision to move to Rockland to simplify their lives.

Charlie brought a light touch and a quick wit to whatever he did. He had a sweet and positive nature that saw the possibilities in a person or situation. He will be missed by family, friends, and those he met passing through life.

Charlie was pre-deceased by his parents and his older brother Bruce.

He is survived by his wife Lynn of Rockland; son Graham, wife Anna and their son Hank of Los Angeles, CA; son Myles and his fiancé Cassie Rodrigues of Hallowell; his brother George and wife Kathy of Hampton Falls, NH; his brother Jon Allen and wife Sheri of Hampton Falls, NH; sister Beth Allen Roy of Milton, NH; brother Richard and wife Deb of Salisbury, MA; and sister Barbara Allen of Canandaigua, NY, as well as many nieces, nephews, and great nieces and nephews.

Charlie’s family would like to thank Dr. Rob Stein for his exceptional care of Charlie through the years; Dr. Lauren Michalakes for her support through a difficult transition; and all the staff of Sussman House for their generous and compassionate care of Charlie in his final days.

A memorial service will be held August 4, 2019 at the Rockport Opera house in Rockport.

In lieu of flowers, make a donation in Charlie’s memory to Friends of Rockland Public Library, PO Box 764, Rockland, ME 04841.