Sadly we report that on Wednesday, June 27, 2018, long-time Western Region member, Charlie Humphreys of Ridgecrest passed away after a short battle with cancer. He was 87 years old.
He was an avid car collector and took great pride in the cars he had restored over the years. His 1941 Lincoln Continental was featured in the 2017 Forest Grove Concours d’Elegance.. And he was also an active member of the local chapter of the Nash Club of America.
Charlie was the proud owner of a big “K” model Lincoln, as well as 1941 and 1947 Continental Cabriolets. Charlie attended our 2004 seasonal meet in Ridgecrest with his “K”, where he took a “best of show”. He routinely drove his cabriolets in the annual Lone Pine Film Festival parade and Parade of Stars.
He also attended the National Meet in Concord, but without one of his cars. In addition to his Lincolns Charlie was a serious Nash enthusiast, owning an extremely rare 1953 Nash Healey coupe and a big early ’50’s Nash Ambassador. His “driver” was a late model Mercury Grand Marquis. Charlie was quite a fixture here in Ridgecrest, teaching languages at our community college until just a few years ago, hanging out at the Ford dealer, and enjoying Saturday morning doughnuts with fellow car crazies at our local doughnut shop. Due to his age Charlie didn’t get too far out of town, but could be counted on to bring out one of his nice cars to local shows
.Charles was born in Tiffin, Ohio, to Theta and Claude Humphreys. He moved to California 1942 and lived in the Los Angeles area, where he was in a few films as a tap dancer and was also in the “Song of the Open Road” with Jane Powell, as a featured extra. In 1948, he went to Eugene, Oregon to attend the University of Oregon on a music scholarship. At graduation he was drafted into the army, where he played in the Army band at Ft. Leonard-Wood, Missouri. He then returned to the University of Oregon to complete his master’s degree in Languages.
He taught Russian and Latin at Sherman E. Burroughs High School for 30 years and continued teaching at Cerro Coso Community College for another 24 years. Over the years he would travel with students to Europe to visit the history they were studying. He was an active member of the American Classical League, the National Junior Classical League, and also played in the Ridgecrest Community Orchestra.
Charles is survived by his sister, Kay (Gerry) Williams, his nephew, Don (Cyndi) Rhea, and niece, Daina McFadden.
A Celebration of Charles’ life will be held on Saturday, July 28, at 2 p.m. at the Lighthouse, 111 Balsam, Ridgecrest. Memorial donations in memory of Charles can be made to Cerro Coso Community College – Foreign Language Department, 3000 College Heights Blvd, Ridgecrest, CA 93555-9571.
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