Charles Lundquist died peacefully at home in Radnor, Pennsylvania on Wednesday, August 29th. He was 83. He is survived by his wife of 60 years, Joyce Lundquist, their four children (Dan of Saratoga Springs, New York; Sara of Los Angles, California; Amy Ward of Berwyn; and Sam of Wynnewood), eleven grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. His brother Bruce lives in Cape May, NJ. He was predeceased by his son Peter. He and Joyce met while students at Denison University in Ohio. They lived in Ohio, New Jersey, and Connecticut before settling on the Main Line, residing in Devon, Haverford, and Radnor. Chuck was a consummate family man and, in an era where career often came first, he made decisions with his family's best interests in mind. (This lead to a 1970s feature story in the Philadelphia Inquirer entitled "Breaking the Golden Handcuffs" about the then-unheard of pushback against corporate culture.) That notwithstanding he had a long career with the original LIFE magazine and was their Philadelphia office manager. After LIFE closed he worked in Philadelphia advertising and financial services. Licensed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, he settled on real estate as his final career. In addition to garnering notoriety for their early foray into tree-stump-art at their home along Upper Gulph Road, he and Joyce enjoyed minor fame as the proprietors of Valley Forge Alpacas in Berwyn with their celebrity-named camelids often drawing small crowds along the farm on Grubbs Mill Road. An admirer of the non-square angle in a homestead's architecture, wood smoke in winter, a beach sunset in summer, and a perfect Martini all year round, Chuck was an avid collector of vintage magazines, and cherished his friendship with author John Cheever, who may well have used him as a prototype in his genre. In New Canaan he was famous for his collection of semi-functioning classic automobiles with engine blocks kept warm by roosters and barn cats. A precursor to Eddie ("Green Acres") Albert, Chuck liked to prepare for a day on Madison Avenue by pulling Wellies over his Brooks Bros pinstripes and feeding the horses, sheep, and burros before work. Despite his lack of training in equitation, Chuck enjoyed riding his Tennesse Walking Horse "Dixie" along Valley Road and the Silvermine River. An avid golfer, Chuck was a championship player and longtime member of Merion Golf Club and of Woodway (Darien, CT) where he also promoted Platform Tennis in the off-season. The shore was another love of his life and Avalon has been the family's home away from home since the '60s.
Published in Main Line Media News on September 5, 2012
