Charles Cortlandt Rollins of Southampton died on March 10 of congestive heart failure. He was 94.
Born June 12, 1914, in a cold-water flat on East 5th Street in Manhattan, he graduated in 1937 with a degree in business administration from New York University, where he and his teammates won the 1937 Intercollegiate Fencing Association Team Championship in epee.
He worked in advertising well into his 70s and, according to survivors, felt lucky to be in at the beginning of the “fun days” of Doyle Dane Bernbach Advertising (now Omnicom). There he worked as account vice president for the British Government Tourist Authority, El Al Airlines, the Israel Government Tourist Authority and the Jamaica Tourist Board, among others. His clients always became his good friends, survivors said. He met his future wife of 43 years, Nancy Gaudreaux, while working at DDB.
Survivors said this week that Mr. Rollins was a true student of life who never stopped in his quest for discovery and the sharing of knowledge. He enjoyed reminiscing about the incredible changes he witnessed in his almost 95 years and found as much joy in unraveling the most complicated aspects of life as in watching the birds he fed in the backyard and enjoying the garden his wife created. Family members recalled him as a wonderful, forthright man with an edge of “sandpaper charm” and quick retorts, and said that their memories of Mr. Rollins will always be brightly lit by the smiles he engendered.
He is survived his wife, Nancy of Southampton; a daughter, Pamela and her husband Alex Camacho of Manhattan and Southampton; a brother, Norman Robbins and his wife Betty Jean of Roslyn Heights; four grandchildren, Julian, Isabel, Charlotte and Simon Camacho; a brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Tom and Ann Gaudreaux of Virginia; and two nieces, Carolyn Stanton of Virginia and Cindy McGuire of Maryland. A daughter, Abbe Rollins, and a brother, Dale Robbins, predeceased him.
In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that all raise a celebratory glass to Mr. Rollins, A memorial gathering this summer will be announced in a future edition of The Press.
on Mar 18, 2009