Charles Edward O'Clair Jr

1941 - 2025

Charles Edward O'Clair, Jr., was born on May 29, 1941, in Ayer, Massachusetts, to Charles Edward O'Clair, Sr. and his wife, Mary Harvey O'Clair. Charles Jr. was usually called either Chuck or Charlie, and he had a younger brother, Stephen, and sister, Mary Patricia.

Chuck graduated from Ayer High School in 1959 and the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1963. He was hired as a Lobster Culturist with the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries. In November of the same year, he signed up with the US Navy at South Weymouth Naval Air Station, and after completing their training he served as navigator and tactical coordinator aboard an SPE and P3B aircraft until March of 1968 when he was decommissioned as a Lieutenant.

Chuck was admitted to the graduate school of the College of Fisheries of the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1968. On June 9, 1973, he married Rita Mae Gustus, whom he had met at the UW Friday Harbor Laboratories on San Juan Island, WA. The couple had no children.

Chuck finished his PhD in Fisheries Biology at UW in Seattle. His PhD research included a study of the effects of nuclear testing on the intertidal marine communities in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, especially at Amchitka Island.

The National Marine Fisheries Service hired Chuck to work at their Auke Bay Biological Lab near Juneau, Alaska, where he stayed until his retirement in 2001. His early years of research produced definitive studies of the life history and habitat use of Dungeness Crabs, which resulted in new laws governing how logging companies used shallow nearshore waters to store harvested logs which polluted the benthic environment with thick carpets of bark that were detrimental to the crabs. Near the end of his career, he was heavily involved in the detailed assessment of the damage to marine communities caused by a massive spill of oil from the Exxon Valdez tanker after it struck a rocky reef while leaving Prince William Sound, Alaska.

During these years Chuck traveled with Rita to numerous places in Africa, Europe, South America, Australia, New Zealand and various tropical islands in the South Pacific and Caribbean Oceans. All their destinations were chosen to maximize their enjoyment of natural communities. Chuck was also devoted to keeping his body as healthy as possible, and was an avid runner, which culminated in completing twelve marathon races, including Boston, for which one must qualify. After a hip replacement made running more difficult, Chuck turned to cycling to keep in peak physical condition.

After Chuck retired in 2001, he and Rita moved to San Juan Island, Washington, where they helped build their retirement home. His next years were spent doing volunteer work for Wolf Hollow Wildlife Rehabilitation Center on San Juan Island, the University of Washington COASST program for the prevention of oil spills on the Washington coast, and he also contributed over 20 years of data to Cornell University's long-term study of the bird communities at Three Meadows Marsh on San Juan Island.

Chuck also loved music. He built a marimba and took about 10 years of lessons with an enthusiastic local group but quit when he discovered that "everyone is playing faster and faster while I am slowing down." He then turned to playing alto saxophone, learning the basics from Rita, who had taken clarinet in middle school. Yet he refused to take lessons himself, paradoxically explaining "I'm not good enough to take lessons."