Charles P. Stevenson of Hobe Sound, Fla., a member of the USGA Executive Committee from 1962-69, died at his home on Dec. 25 after a short illness. He was 92.
A native of Buffalo, N.Y., Stevenson graduated from Yale University in 1941. In 1942, he joined the U.S. Navy as an ensign and was deployed in the Pacific theater during World War II. He led a naval aircraft repair crew that was stationed on a succession of South Pacific islands. He spent the last few months of the war in Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C.
In 1946, he joined the Eastman Machine Company in Buffalo, where he was treasurer of the company until 1966, when he became its president. He retired in 1988.
In Buffalo, Hobe Sound, and Southampton, N.Y., Stevenson was a member of a number of boards of civic and community agencies.
His love for golf blossomed and he won several club championships and invitational tournaments. Stevenson’s service to the game began with his role as an official with the Buffalo District Golf Association, where he was dedicated to helping youngsters enjoy the game.
In 1962, he was named to the USGA’s Executive Committee. Two years later, he was named chairman of the 1964 U.S. Junior Amateur. He chaired the Junior Amateur until he left the Executive Committee at the end of the 1969 championship season.
A board member at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club for more than 20 years, he was also a member of Augusta National Golf Club, the National Golf Links of America, Piping Rock Club, Seminole Golf Club and Saint Andrews Links in Scotland.
Stevenson was known for his keen competitiveness as well as his strong sense of fairness and vast knowledge of the Rules of Golf, qualities tempered by a sense of humor that delighted his family and friends.
Stevenson was a trustee of St. Andrew’s Dune Church in Southampton and a vestry member of Christ Memorial Chapel in Hobe Sound. Committed to promoting the education of young people, he was chairman of the board of trustees of the Elmwood Franklin School in Buffalo, a trustee of Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Conn., and a regional representative for St. Paul’s School in Concord, N.H., from which he graduated.
He was predeceased by his first wife, Mary Louise (Sissy) Stevenson, who died in 1991. Stevenson is survived by his wife, Barbara Rogers Stevenson, whom he married in 1994, and his five children: Wade Stevenson, Charles Stevenson, Louise Stevenson (Zimmerman), Robert Stevenson and Roy Stevenson. He had 21 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Memorial services will be private. Contributions in Stevenson’s memory may be sent to the Saturn Club Historical Foundation in Buffalo or St. Andrews' Dune Church, Southampton.
Rhonda Glenn is a manager of communications for the USGA. E-mail her with questions or comments at rglenn@usga.org.