Royalton, Vt. — Charles Olmstead passed away quietly at his home on Thursday, Aug. 30, 2018, after a brief illness at the age of 91. He is survived by his children, two sons, John and Charles of Royalton; and two daughters, Elizabeth of Royalton and Holly of Colchester. He is also survived by two sister, Tiny Moore of Menan, Idaho and Harriet Lyman of Sharon. Charlie had 14 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren; as well as numerous nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by his wife of 57 years, Dotty; his sister, Ann Burke; and his parents John and Violet (Eastwood) Olmstead.

Charlie was born in Enfield, Conn. and came to the farm on Back River Road in Royalton at the age of two. He attended elementary school at Royalton Academy and then South Royalton High school, graduating in 1946. He and his parents continued to operate the farm and sawmill until the early 1960’s.

Charlie met and married Dorothy Mahoney of Poughkeepsie, N.Y. in 1955 and raised their four kids on the family farm. After farming he worked 17 years at the R.F. Billings oil company before going into the machine tool industry first at Cone Automatic in Windsor, then General Electric in Burlington. Charlie and Dotty lived in Colchester while he worked at GE and Dotty worked at the UVM bookstore.

After retirement, they moved back home to Royalton. Charlie’s idea of a relaxing retirement was to start growing one of the larger gardens and orchards on Otto Merrill Road. All the folks in or around Otto Merrill Road enjoyed surprise package of fresh vegetables and fruit for a number of years.

Charlie and Dotty were lifelong members of the Ed Larkin Contra Dancers. In addition to performing annually at the Tunbridge World’s Fair they traveled around New England performing with the group. One of the highlights of his Ed Larkin dancing career was to perform at the Vermont pavilion at the 1963 World’s Fair in New York City. It was rumored that he quoted poetry on the bus ride back to Vermont. He was also a member of the Royalton Civics Club for a number of years. While he lived in Colchester he was a member of the Elks Club. He enjoyed a good game of cards with his neighbors Ray and Ida, fishing with his grandsons and had a passion for history, in particular, military history. In his later years he was a regular at the Royalton senior meals where he could visit with various long-term community friends like Walt and Verna English, Myron Vesper and many others.

At Charlie’s request, there will be no calling hours. There will be a graveside service at the Royalton Village Cemetery on Sept. 9, 2018, 1:30 p.m. followed by a social to be held at his old family home at 49 Otto Merrill Road.

The family request that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Royalton Senior meals program in Charlie’s name.

A private message of sympathy for the family can be shared at www.bordwaycilley.com. The Boardway and Cilley Funeral Home, Chelsea, Vt. is in charge of arrangements.