Charles R. Naef

Naef, Charles R., "Charlie", age 94, formerly of Hamilton, NY, passed away Tuesday, February 25, 2025. Charlie was a U.S. Army Veteran, Political Science Professor Emeritus at Colgate University, and served as the Mayor of Hamilton. His allegiance as a global citizen was to truth, humanity, peace, and justice. He is survived by his wife, Susan, son Eric and his wife Elizabeth, daughter-in-law Michelle, grandchildren; Jennifer Orendorf, Molly, Alexander, Isabelle, and Giselle, and great-grandchildren; Henry Orendorf, Ashton, Conner, Jackson Lee, and Estelle. Services will be held 10am Monday, March 10th, at St. Mary's Church in Hamilton. The family asks that donations in his memory may be made to the Hamilton Food Cupboard, PO Box 411, Hamilton, NY 13346.
Charlie was born on February 10, 1931, in Camden, NJ, to Otto, a Swiss Electrical Engineer, and Bianca, an Italian foreign language correspondent. Soon after birth they moved to Zürich, Switzerland. They returned to the United States when Charlie was 17, moving to Speculator, NY, where he attained his Regents Diploma at Wells High School, as well as receiving a letter award for soccer. In 1953, he received a B.A. in International Relations from Bard College. While at Bard he roomed with his lifelong friend Martin Johnson, whom he remained closely in touch with. Charlie was then drafted into the U.S. Army, serving in West Germany as interrogator and military intelligence analyst. He received the commander's award at the 7th Army Military Intelligence School. After an honorable discharge, Specialist 3, he served in U.S Army Active Reserves until 1957. He attended Rutgers University and received a M.A. in Political Science. He also taught a Political Science introductory course and a course on American politics to the US Steel Workers Union at Rutgers. During this time, he served as a New Jersey chapter officer of Americans for Democratic Action.
While at Rutgers, Charlie met the love of his life, Susan Koszeghy, who was attending nearby Douglass College, in New Brunswick, N.J. Charlie and Susan were married on September 7, 1957. They moved to Hamilton in 1961, where Charlie taught Comparative Government, International Relations, and Politics for 35 years at Colgate University. Charlie received his Ph.D. in 1978, from Rutgers University, his monumental two-volume dissertation on the Politics of West German Rearmament from 1950 through 1956 found much interest in Germany. Before reunification, Germany's Office for Research in Military History accepted him as a visiting scholar and commissioned a conference paper on the United States and the European Defense Community. From 1980 until his retirement in 1996, he developed and taught a Problems of Arms Control and Disarmament course. Charlie, a Swiss-American dual citizen, spoke German, Italian, French, Serbo-Croatian, and various dialects, which aided his ability to effectively develop and lead five semester-long study groups for Colgate students to Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Geneva. In retirement Charlie and Susan, cherished maintaining close contact with former students, especially ones from these study groups. At Colgate, Charlie played major roles in the development and leadership of the International Relations and Peace Studies Programs.
Together with Susan, Charlie lived in Madison County for 64 years, where they raised their two sons, Mark born in 1960, and Eric 1965. Charlie actively served the village and town of Hamilton as well as the wider region. In 1967 he joined the Madison County Democratic Committee, serving first as Hamilton town and village chair, then as regional vice-chair, treasurer and chair of the publicity and website committee. Asked by then Mayor Larry Baker, whom he held in high regard, he authored the final report of the Committee on Hamilton Village Government in 1993-94. The recommendations for reforms in this report were later adopted. In 1999, Charlie was elected mayor of Hamilton and served on village committees, obtaining federal and state grants in support of three construction projects in Hamilton; expansion and renovation of the Public Library, the restoration of the Village Green, and the annexation and infrastructure development of the new Mid-York Business Airpark. Under his leadership, five properties in Hamilton's village center were sold to Colgate University's Hamilton Initiative, which restored the village center to its early 19th century look and revitalized Hamilton's business community. He also held leadership positions in local organizations, such as the Rotary and Hamilton Clubs. In 1988 he was asked to become president of the Hamilton Club. He agreed on the condition of a revision to the by-laws to allow woman to join. He served on the Hamilton Forum Steering Committee and as a member of the Hamilton Interfaith Service Group. He volunteered at the food cupboard, served as consolation minister for Hamilton's St. Mary parish, and on the joint social justice committee with Morrisville's St. Joan parish. Chalie served his chosen party actively in many capacities, he was responsible for crafting the Madison County Democratic Committee's platform, as well as by-laws for both the county and town of Hamilton committees. He played leadership roles in campaigns on behalf of many local, congressional, and presidential candidates.
In 2015 for recognition of his political and civic contributions to Hamilton and Madison County, he received the MCDC's annual James and Dolley Madison award for exceptional service to the community. Charlie believed in peace, justice, and full equality; he spent his life devoted to this mission.