Charles "Skip" Watts

On Thursday, May 15th, 2025, Charles "Skip" Watts, 99 years old, left this world for a new and unknown adventure.
Born in Paterson, New Jersey on May 4th, 1926, Skip grew up near the ocean in Cranston, RI with his older sister Harriet. He loved sailing and racing his Beetle Cat, Pinto, and S boats from the Edgewood Yacht Club. Skip's love of skiing started in the early 1940s, when he often took the ski train to North Conway, NH.
At the age of 17, Skip enlisted in the Army, where he trained to become part of the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles" Division. He spent almost two years on the European front parachuting into action, getting into mischief, and bravely serving his country during WWII.
Returning from the war, Skip finished high school, married his sailing sweetheart, Beverly Ferguson from Fall River, MA, and started a family, all while studying Physics at the University of Rhode Island and living in a Quonset Hut on campus.
Skip's professional career started with the Navy working on a Volpe machine in New London, CT; it also included 2 years at DuPont, and 15 years at General Electric, which involved many special projects. He often told stories of "vacuum systems," working with chemicals, and developing synthetic fibers and transistors. These special projects with GE relocated the family to many interesting places throughout New England and New York.
Skip was instrumental in starting and supervising the ambulance squad in Lake George, NY, and directing the ski patrol at North Creek Ski Area. While living in Pittsfield, MA, he became a regional Red Cross Waterfront Safety official and was on the ski patrol at Bousquet Mountain. After moving to Rochester, NH, Skip switched from the ski patrol to the ski school under Harry Baxter at Mt. Whittier in Ossipee, NH.
Many martinis and "snow dances" later, Skip answered a very small ad in SKIING magazine for IBM in Essex Junction, VT. With Beverly and his family of five, Sally, Judy, Bonny, Betsy, and Tommy, in tow, Skip ended up in Jeffersonville, VT, buying the infamous Vagabond Ski Dorm and converting it to a home. Now, we all had our own bedroom with a number on the door!
For 25 years, Skip worked tirelessly supervising the computer chip manufacturing machines for IBM and became an Advisory Engineer who approved the purchase of these multimillion-dollar machines. Somehow, he found time to play tennis, golf, and
take boating trips on Lake Champlain, up the Richelieu and St. Lawrence rivers, and down the Hudson River to New York City. He was a ski instructor for over 30 years at Smugglers' Notch Resort, starting in 1968 when it was called Madonna Mountain. Skip's love of skiing was passed on to the entire Watts family, who have stayed involved in the skiing world for many generations.
As well as being an active father and husband to Beverly for 67 years, Skip was well known for entertaining people with jokes, singing, a comic routine, or general tomfoolery. He loved to debate the pros and cons of any topic or explain how to build a watch after asking him the time.
After retiring from IBM, Skip and Bev moved to Spring Hill, FL, and later settled in New Bern, NC. Skip returned to Vermont in 2019, residing at Mansfield Place in Essex, VT.
Our Dad, Skip, is now watching over his family with Beverly, who predeceased him in 2015. He left a legacy of working hard and enjoying life to Sally Watts, her husband Randy Draper and daughter Whitley; Judy McCawley, her late husband David "Squatch" and son Matthew Petrick McCawley, his wife Kate and their twins Micah and Cassidy, daughter Elizabeth and her fiancé Saul Benitez; Bonny Mutty, her husband Peter and daughters Sarah and Kali; Betsy Abare and her husband Paul; and last, but very much not the least of Skip's crew, Thomas Ferguson Watts. We love you, Dad.
Thank you to all who cared for our father with grace, kindness, and dignity during his last weeks.
In lieu of flowers, please tell a joke, go for a sail, help someone learn to ski with a qualified ski instructor, or make a donation to www.skiinghistory.org.