Charles Humpstone, 94, of South Woodstock, VT, died on July 14, 2025.
On July 14 Charles Cheney Humpstone (Charley) passed away in Woodstock, with the same graciousness with which he lived his life. To the end of his life, Charles shared his generous spirit and sharp wit with family, friends, and his beloved community.
Charles lived a long and fortunate life. He was born the son of John and Maribel (nee Cheney) on January 3, 1931 in Brooklyn, N.Y. Charles was raised in New York City and Luthersville, Md. He attended the Buckley School in New York and Gilman Country Day School in Baltimore before going to Putney School in Putney, Vt. He graduated from Harvard College in 1953 and Harvard Law School in 1959. Between college and law school he served in the U.S. Marines in Japan, Korea and California completing his service as a first lieutenant in the Fifth Marines.
In his first job in the legal profession, he was an Associate at White & Case in New York City. In 1964, he became a staff attorney and later Assistant General Counsel of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, working on investigations of voting rights infringement in Mississippi and desegregation progress in southern schools. In 1967, he joined the U.S. Treasury as Deputy Special Assistant to the Secretary (for enforcement). He assisted in budgetary and legislative liaison work for the U.S. Secret Service and initial implementation of legislation authorizing Secret Service to protect candidates for the Presidency after the assassination of Robert Kennedy.
In 1969, Charles joined the staff of International Research & Technology Corporation, a Washington D.C. environmental consulting firm primarily engaged in environmental research for agencies of the federal government, where he subsequently became president. In 1973, Charles coauthored with Theodore Taylor The Restoration of the Earth. In 1979, he left IR&T to start his own company, Environmental Risk Assessment Service (USA), doing risk assessment for London-based insurers who wrote pollution liability insurance for commercial and industrial organizations. Charles later returned to law practice, first in Massachusetts and later in Vermont. He joined the Rutland law firm of Carrol, George & Pratt as an associate in 1992 and retired in 1996.
In retirement, Charles pursued his lifelong passions. He read voraciously, wrote short fiction, took cello lessons, planted tomatoes and sugar snap peas, and skied in Vermont, California, and Austria. Charles also greatly enjoyed participating in the community life of Woodstock. Charles served as a member of South Woodstock Design Review Commission and the Norman Williams Library board of trustees. He particularly enjoyed serving as a perennial pancake flipper for the South Woodstock Volunteer Fire Department pancake breakfasts.
In 1960, Charles married Suzanne Torchiana with whom he had two daughters; the marriage ended in divorce in 1975. He later married Marty Stephens; they lived in Chevy Chase, Md., and Sudbury, Mass. before moving to South Woodstock in 1990. Marty died in 2011, and Charles married Beverly Finigan Flynn in 2012.
Charles was predeceased by his parents and his brother Harvey. He is survived by his wife, Beverly, his daughters, Alessandra Humpstone of New York and Susannah Michalson (Gordon) of Alexandria, Va., and his grandson Elliott Michalson of Washington, D.C. Charles is also survived by step-children Connie Jones of Rochester, N.Y., Thomas Gardner of South Burlington, Vt., Alex Gardner of West Concord, Mass., Tracy Flynn of Columbus, Ga., Daniel Flynn of Hermosa Beach, Calif., six Gardner step-grandchildren, four Gardner great-grandchildren, and three Flynn step-grandchildren.
At the end of his life, Charles lived at Mertens House in Woodstock, where he made new friends; the kindness and care of the staff won his affection and gratitude. Charles will be remembered for his marvelous sense of humor, his generosity of spirit, his love of family, and his love of literature. He will be greatly missed.
Funeral arrangements will be announced at a later date. Instead of flowers, donations may be made to Woodstock’s Norman Williams Public Library.
An online guestbook can be found at cabotfh.com.
