Charles Ellertson

1945 - 2022

Charles Ellertson
November 27, 1945 - December 22, 2022
Durham, North Carolina - Charles Melvin Ellertson, ended his days at age 77 on 22 December 2022. He died at home in Durham, having braved his third – and most difficult – incidence of cancer. His accomplishments through decades of ill health are testaments to his strength, talent, and determination.
Chares was born in 1945 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the only child of Melvin Elroy Ellertson and Lillie Eugenia Harley Ellertson. Early years in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, were shaped by his father's Norwegian heritage, and his mother's ties to Methodist communities in Asheville, North Carolina. At age six, his father's work as research chemist for Carnation took the family to the San Fernando Valley, then an area of farming and fruit orchards. (Charles' first job was selling apricots at a road-side stand.) During his high school years in Northridge, Charles became an expert marksman, competing in target matches across the Los Angeles area, and winning an "All City" award. His fondest memories of life in California were of trips to both the mountains and desert, as well as summer work as a counselor in the northern forests.
Following a deep family tradition, Charles earned his undergraduate degree at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. Although his 4-F status exempted him from the draft, the Vietnam war hung heavy over his young adulthood. Thinking that the humanities held promise for solutions in this complex time, Charles began graduate school in philosophy at Duke University. He stopped short of completing his PhD, instead following friends into work at the Duke Media Center and eventually becoming a recording engineer for the Duke Music Department. Sessions with Mary Lou Williams, the Ciompi Quartet, and the Red Clay Ramblers were among the most memorable. At one of these, he met Barbara Williams, whom he married in 1985.
In 1980 Charles and his best friend, Larry Tseng, started a typesetting company in Durham. Over the next forty years, they grew Tseng Information Systems into one of the most respected typesetting firms in the university press community. Having taught himself typography, Charles adapted many typefaces for more graceful and effective use with direct-to-plate offset printing. He also created special letterforms for non-English languages, including several Native American orthographies. He was one of the co-authors of the Glossary of Typesetting Terms, published in 1994 by the University of Chicago Press. He adapted an Open Source typeface, Merope, adding accents for a variety of languages, and made the resulting font freely available. Many authors, editors, designers, and publishers across the U.S. benefitted from Charles' exacting and insightful work; hundreds of handsomely crafted books in university libraries are part of his legacy.
Another part of that legacy are the friendships from his decades in Durham and from wide-ranging professional relationships. One silver lining of his final illness has been hearing from friends and relatives across the country.
In retirement, Charles revived his interest in marksmanship, competing at both short- and long-range matches. Ever the innovator, he worked to balance the physics of precision with the limitations of materials and weather. He donated much of his equipment for the use of others who might wish to learn the sport.
Charles is "survived by his wife," Barbara Williams Ellertson of Durham, sister-in-law Laura Hood of Lewes, Delaware, and cousins in California, Minnesota, and New Jersey. The family thanks the many friends who have supported them through months of illness and gives special thanks to Dr. Christopher Jones of Duke Palliative Care and to Lisa Ginsberg of Duke Home Health and Hospice. Since Charles never sent flowers (to anyone!), he would wish for memorial contributions to be made to the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina or to Habitat for Humanity. Arrangements are with American Cremation Service; ashes will be privately buried in Maplewood Cemetery. A remembrance gathering at the Ellertson home is being planned for April 2023.