a few moments with charlie wiltshire
It’s funny, you know, how some long-forgotten memory can spring suddenly and vividly into your consciousness often without warning.
Happens often with Charley Wiltshire, especially when he reflects on the 30 years he spent at Collegiate as a teacher, administrator, mentor, and Renaissance man.
There was the time in the mid ‘70’s, for example, when he was holding forth in the Boys School language lab.
An administrator knocked on his door and asked him to stop by the office after class.
Almost as one, Wiltshire’s French students let out a collective, “Ooooh, now you’re in trouble.”
When the period ended, Jeff Daly approached his desk, brandished his fist menacingly, and said (jokingly, of course, but in a tough-guy voice), “You want me to take care of him, Mr. Wiltshire?”
The reason for the summons has long since been forgotten, but “Jointure” (meaning knuckles), the sobriquet Daly acquired that day, remains 35 years later.
Then there was a class trip to La Petite France for lunch.
“We were on the bus coming back,” Wiltshire recalled, “and Hank Carter yells, ‘Monsieur, Où est Dessiné? Monsieur, we have to go back! We left Dessiné!’
“Dessiné (Drew Karo) was hiding on the floor of the bus. Finally, he appeared.
“They were always pulling those good-natured pranks. They’re things you never forget. I can still see the scene.”
Wiltshire’s career in education spanned more than four decades.
During a three-year Army hitch, he prepared soldiers for their high school equivalency exam and also attended language school in Monterey, CA, where he learned Chinese Mandarin.
He taught at John Marshall High School 10 years and, while there, added Russian to his repertoire thanks to a John Hay Fellowship at Yale University.
He joined the Collegiate family in 1968.
Versatile and talented, Wiltshire served as student government advisor, chair of the foreign language department, and, for a time, assistant to the Boys School head.
He initiated two pilot programs, one in Chinese and another in world history conducted in the French language.
He taught history and government when his schedule allowed.
A lifelong learner, he pursued a cornucopia of other interests: foreign policy, political cartoons, art, music, religion, karate, and running.
He and Susie, a long-time French and German teacher at St. Catherine’s whom he married in June 20, 1959, are world travelers.
He has a delightful, if understated, sense of humor and can do a mean Porky Pig imitation.
Upon his retirement, Collegiate instituted the Charles F. Wiltshire Citizenship Award presented annually to a graduating senior boy.
It was a well-deserved honor for a quintessential school person.
While Wiltshire was a familiar presence around campus, he became quite well known in the larger community as the coach (with Jeannette Welsh and later Betty Hunt) of the ultra-successful Battle of the Brains team.
“It was first called High School Bowl in the late ‘70’s when we won our first championship,” he recalled one afternoon recently as he sat in his easy chair at his apartment in Hathaway Towers.
“We won again in ’81, ’82, and ’83. Douglas Freeman and St. Christopher’s were our two big rivals.”
Wiltshire credits the squad’s success to a dedicated daily practice time, a buzzer system that simulated actual competition, and downright diligence.
“We did a lot of research,” he said. “We found question books, took questions out of the newspapers, made sure everything was current.
“We wrote a lot of our own questions. That was part of the fun, part of the academic picture.”
In 1990, Joann Chan, Billy Broaddus, Eric Biber, and Peter Hopewell, all juniors, won the Battle of the Brains national championship at Rice University in Houston.
“Ninety-two teams participated,” Wiltshire recalled. “We came back with $50,000 for the education fund at Collegiate.
“We definitely got a lot of recognition.”
His step has slowed, but Wiltshire, who’s 80, has remained active in retirement.
He’s taken courses at both Virginia Commonwealth University and the Shepherd Center, he and Susie attend cultural events throughout Richmond area, he follows the football career of ’07 graduate Russell Wilson, and he keeps his Chinese language skills fresh thanks to conversations with the owners of the Mandarin Palace, one of his favorite dining spots.
Life has moved on, but what rings true to this day are thoughts of his time at Collegiate, sharing the experience with friends and using his creative genius to provide cutting-edge curricular innovations and opportunities.
“It was very enjoyable and meaningful relating to students and colleagues in so many activities,” he said.
“There are definitely a lot of fond memories.”
