Obituary & Death Notice

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Memorial Service for Chas. W. Willey

An Impressive memorial service was held Sunday morning at the First Baptist church for one of its members, Charles W. Willey, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Willey, who was lost at sea when the steamer Herman Frasch was sunk on Oct. 4, 1918.
With the colors and beautiful flowers were grouped pictures of Mr. Willey, one as a graduate from Yale and one in his officer's uniform, and a picture of the transport, Herman Frasch, from which he lost his life.
A male quartette, Stephen E. Peckham, Walter M, Cowan, Frank L, Robinson and William Lund, rendered a special programme of music, closing with Nearer My God to Thee.
The pastor spoke feelingly as follows:
We are here at this hour for a two-fold purpose. First, to participate in a memorial service and to break open our alabaster boxes of love and appreciation and pour the precious ointment upon the fragrant memory of Charles W. Willey.
And in the second place, we are here to consider the stately and majestic steppings of the omnipotent God as He moves across the ocean of life and down the shores of time.
The text is a portion of the 19th verse of the 77th Psalm. Thy way is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters.
Some years ago in this sacred place Charles W. Willey made the supremely grand decision of his life. He became a Christian. He accepted the matchless Christ as the highest type of manhood and crowned Him King. Between then and now only a few years have passed, but this time has been sufficient to reveal to us all the true metal with which this young hero was made.
This true knight of the Twentieth century began life with the determination to carve his name on the age in which he lived. And who will say he hasn't done it. Nothing but the best ever appealed to this daring and aspiring soul. Early in life he became conscious that industry was the price of success. He was willing to pay that price. After graduating from our Free Academy, he entered Yale University, where his sterling worth was quickly recognized and he became very popular. In 1916 he graduated from Yale and with all the enthusiasm of his young life, threw himself into the business world.
His employers speak in the highest terms of his ability and there is every reason for believing, had he lived, he would have won a commanding place in the business world. But God moves in mysterious ways - "His way is in the sea and his path in the great waters."
In August 1914 all of Europe was plunged into an indescribable abyss of sorrow and anguish by what has since proved to be a world cataclysm. The land of Washington and Lincoln had grown to be a mighty republic. From ten thousand flag poles waved Old Glory, the fairest symbol of liberty this old planet has ever seen. We were peaceful and happy, But across the sea, the cruel serpent of a militaristic autocracy was hissing and destroying life with all the cunning and strength and cruelty of an Indian cobra. The cry of nations in distress was so loud and pathetic that it could be heard across the mighty Atlantic.
The cry came not in vain. We became conscious of our true destiny. God had made us great to serve the world. That cry echoed from shore to shore from city to village - from mountain to valley until a prighty host of America's bravest and best were on the way across the sea to grapple with the monster of the iniquity.
Of this great host, we believe there were few if any, more daring more many-more truly American and more altruistic than Charles W. Willes. We remember with pleasure his last visit home. I gripped his hand and wished him Heaven's blessing as we parted. He was assigned for duty on the Herman Frasch and sailed for Europe with supplies for the allies.
On the night of October 4th, in a dense fog, the Herman Frasch was rammed by another vessel and cut in twain. The earthly career or our young hero was ended. His sun had set to rise in a fairer world.
I can't help but think that the Christ who held out his hands and caught Peter, was near to Charles Willey that night on the dark sea. Peter's life was incomplete and so he was spared only to receive the martyr's crown in later life. We never would have thought that our brother's work was done but God evidently thought it was and came down and crowned him with only the great waves of the Atlantic and the angels to witness the coronation.
There is a passage in Virgil which speaks of Evander as coming to the end of his career. He recalls the past with tears and regrets. The present moment was big with opportunities but he was unable to measure up to them. Responsibilities were there but his shoulders could not carry them. An unexpected crisis has come but he wasn't equal to the occasion. The hour demanded a leader with the strength of a giant but he was as weak as a babe. Evander exclaims in nis grief: "Oh, that I was as in the day when I led my army out in the Valley of Praeneste." How pathetic the hero's cry. Gone forever the energy that in his youth never tired. Gone the zest of living. Gone the passionate ambition to dare and do. And these things Evander had lost were lost forever.
But what a contrast. We think of our young hero as crowned in the very zenith of his young manhood. Every faculty alert, enthusiasm at fever heat, a passionate desire to make good and the future all rosy with promise.
Charles Willey was not out on a pleasure trip but in the path of duty and he died at his post- died in the sacred cause e of world freedom. Millions will see the dawn of a new day and live in the atmosphere of a holier freedom because Charles W. Willey in the atmosphere of a holler freedom because Charles W. Willey and others dared to make the supreme sacrifice. We feel keenly -more than words than ever tell- his going away, but are sure that our loss is his gain. We sorrow, but he is glad in a land of perpetual joy and sunshine.
How my heart yearns to show you the Father's love and design in this seemingly strange act of Providence. Through the clouds of sorrow and disappointment, it's difficult for us to see our Father's face beaming with love. But life is a mockery if we can't bank on that love which simply can't fail.
May I suggest an analogy. Long ago in Bethany there was a home where Jesus on many occasions was most royally entertained. Lazarus, a member of that household was stricken with disease and Mary and Martha sent a message to Jesus informing him of their brother's illness. They made no request for Jesus to come but simply assumed He would come because Jesus tarried. The sisters must have wondered why their Lord was so long in coming. Lazarus died and was buried. Then Jesus starts for Bethany. We like to believe Jesus is never late but He seemed to be on this occasion. The sorrowing sisters greeted Jesus with these words: "Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died." But Jesus planned not to be there. He had a great surprise in store for them. He wanted them to see God's glory, but the darkness of the year valley must precede the glory of the mountain top. They journeyed to the spot where Lazarus lay. Then the holy Christ cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth," and instantaneously the glory of the omnipotent God burst upon the scene and the brother was alive again. Who will dare to describe that journey homeward. Now the sisters must have been glad Jesus wasn't there, and we are glad, too. If Не came late there was a reason for it. During many anxious hours we waited and prayed that the same Christ might have come and snatched our brother from the cold waves of the Atlantic. But Christ tarried and He tarries still. But some day He will come and we shall behold God's glory in Charles W. Willey--his face beaming with joy and on his brow the hero's crown. And then, without a doubt, we shall rejoice that Christ came in his own way and time.
Attending the service were William Hull, William Ringland, Raymond Wilcox and Robert Peckham, гepresenting the Tri Kappa fraternity of the Norwich Free Academy of which Mr. Willey was a member and a representation of his graduating class of the Academy. Many members of the Rebekah lodge, in which Mrs. Willey is a past grand, attended, thus expressing sympathy. Among the relatives and friends from out of town at the service were Mrs. Fred Beebe and daughter Miss Ruth Beebe of Springfield, Mass.: Mrs. Fred Beebe, Jr., of New York, Mr. and Mrs. Charles Crane, Willimantic: William Davies and daughter, Miss Carrie Davies, of New London John Chaffee, Bridgeport; Mrs. John Rathbone and son, John Rathbone of Leffingwell.
--Norwich Bulletin, Norwich, Connecticut, November 11, 1918 Page 7

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