Summer Southampton Resident Charles P. Stevenson Dies At 92

Charles P. Stevenson

Summer Southampton resident Charles P. Stevenson died on Christmas Day at his home in Hobe Sound, Florida, after a short illness. He was 92.

A native of Buffalo, Mr. Stevenson attended the Elmwood Franklin School and Nichols School in Buffalo. After graduating from St. Paul’s School in Concord, New Hampshire, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Yale University in 1941. Following graduation, he enrolled in Roosevelt Aviation School and entered the U.S. Navy as an ensign in 1942.

Deployed to the Pacific Theater, he led a Naval aircraft repair crew stationed on a succession of South Pacific islands. The crew maintained and repaired the aircraft and runways involved in the island-hopping advance to final victory over Japan. He spent the last few months of World War II as a lieutenant in Naval Intelligence in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for locating and destroying balloon bombs that Japan was then launching against the Pacific Northwest.

In 1946, Mr. Stevenson returned to Buffalo, where he joined the Eastman Machine Company, a manufacturing business founded in 1888, which had been acquired by his grandfather Charles R. Stevenson in 1892. With his father as president, he served the company as treasurer until 1966, when he became president. In 1983, he oversaw the company’s expansion by relocating in Buffalo a subsidiary from Long Island and by expanding the Buffalo factory by more than 40 percent. During his tenure at Eastman, Mr. Stevenson grew the company, establishing representatives in almost every country. Today, because of his efforts, Eastman is the world’s largest manufacturer of fabric-cutting machinery.

Following his retirement in 1988, his sons Robert and Wade Stevenson took over the Eastman firm as the fourth generation of Stevensons to run the business. It remains the city’s oldest manufacturing business in continuous operation.

Mr. Stevenson also served on the board of directors of the Woods Knife Company, Forest Lawn Cemetery, Houdaille Corporation, and M&T Bank.

He was active in many civic and community agencies. He joined the boards of the Niagara Falls Bridge Commission, Planned Parenthood of Buffalo and Erie County, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the United Way, and many other charities to which he contributed both personally and through the Eastman Machine Co. He served as a trustee of St. Andrew’s Dune Church in Southampton and as a vestry member of St. John’s Church in Hobe Sound.

According to survivors, Mr. Stevenson was very committed to promoting the education of young people as chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Elmwood Franklin School in Buffalo and as a trustee of Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut. He also served as a regional representative for St. Paul’s School and raised funds for the Berkshire Farm for Boys. He was also a member of Buffalo Club, Country Club of Buffalo, Buffalo Tennis and Squash Club, and Saturn Club, where he served as dean in 1973.

Friends said his true love was golf; he was known for his fair play, competitiveness and comprehensive knowledge of the rules of golf. During his career, he won several club championships and numerous invitational tournaments. He was fortunate, friends said, to belong to some of the most prestigious golf clubs in the United States, including the Augusta National Golf Club, Seminole Golf Club, Piping Rock Club, National Golf Links, and Shinnecock Hills Golf Club, where he served on the board for more than 20 years. He was also a member of the St. Andrew’s Golf Links in Scotland. Survivors noted his dedication to helping youngsters enjoy the game. He became an official with the Buffalo District Golf Association and later was named to the executive committee of the United States Golf Association, for which he chaired the Junior Championship Committee from 1964 to 1969.

Mr. Stevenson married Mary Louise Lord of New York City and Southampton in January 1943. The couple were longtime residents of Hobe Sound and enjoyed many summers in Southampton. Ms. Lord, affectionately known as “Sissy,” died in 1991.

The widowed Mr. Stevenson married Barbara Rogers in 1994. Together, they resided on Jupiter Island for the past 16 years, during which Mr. Stevenson served as a member and director of the Jupiter Island Club.

According to family, Mr. Stevenson was known for his love of life and for having a sense of humor that inspired him to swallow live fish for the amusement of his grandchildren. When repeated at family gatherings, family recalled, his repertoire of family jokes still embarrasses his children. Family said that he will be fondly remembered as a devoted family man, a businessman committed to Buffalo, and a loving husband.

In addition to his wife, Barbara Rogers, he is survived by four sons, Roy Stevenson of Southampton, Charles Stevenson of New York City, and Robert and Wade Stevenson of Buffalo; a daughter, Louise Stevenson Zimmerman of Pennsylvania; 21 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Services are private. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Saturn Club Foundation, 977 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14209, or the St. Andrew’s Dune Church, P.O. Box 1245, Southampton, NY 11969-1245 would be appreciated by the family.