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| Charlie, Shirley |
Current OBLHS Board Members |
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Charlie Votow
Charlie was born in St. Louis, MO. And moved to Washington, DC. In 1952, he was employed at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC, to design and test SONAR equipment. His work at the laboratory gave him the opportunity for underwater acoustic work in the Arctic. That began in 1969 with a trip to the North Pole aboard a nuclear Submarine. Charlie made acoustic and oceanographic measurements throughout the two-month cruise. As the cold war progressed, the interest in the Arctic increased and more tests were required. He led numerous field exercises at remote ice camps. These were often cooperative efforts involving our allies. He left this work in 1987 to take a desk job at the Office of Naval Technology. Charlie is now a self-described happily retired old coot with a loving wife who hasn’t run away after 47 years of marriage. He is proud of his four grown children and seven grandchildren and they bring him great joy. Since retiring, he has worked as a volunteer at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, and a crewmember of the sailing ship Elizabeth II. He also enjoys part time work as a picture framer to satisfy his artistic side. Charlie, with his wife Shirley, serves a Director of Community Relations for OBLHS.
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Shirley Votaw
Shirley grew up in Portsmouth, Virginia. She met her future husband while teaching in Fairfax, VA, and a year later they went to CA, where she taught in Oakland while Charlie studied at Cal Tech. Their first child was born there, and after graduation, they returned to Northern Virginia where three other children were born. When the children were in school, she began a business mounting and performing puppet shows, and telling folk tales in nursery schools. For seven years, she was a member of a puppet company, The Chauquateers, and artist in residence at Glen Echo Park. Returning to teaching, Shirley taught kindergarten. Having retired to Avon, NC, she volunteered as a Master Gardener, crew for Elizabeth II, and at the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse. Shirley says that she can’t die until she has read all the books she has bought, so she keeps buying more. |
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