Charles George “Chick” Willing, 91, of Eliot, ME, died peacefully on December 9, 2025, at his home.
Chick was born in Philadelphia, PA on April 22, 1934, the oldest of five children of Leroy and Eleanor (Haviland) Willing. He attended Northeast Catholic High School in Philadelphia and Springfield College in Springfield, MA. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves in the early 1950s, then later in the U.S. Army from 1957 to 1959. While in the Army, he was stationed in Chicago and served as an aide to General William H. Arnold, commander of the U.S. Fifth Army.
In 1961, he married Roberta (Rae) Willing, and shortly afterward, they moved to South Kent, CT, where Chick served as South Kent School’s business manager and coached football, basketball and crew. Roberta was South Kent’s Director of Development for many years.
Although Chick knew little about rowing before arriving at South Kent, crew became an important part of his life. He helped lead a South Kent crew that competed at the Henley Royal Regatta in England in 1966. There he met people who influenced his coaching career. He and others formed the Litchfield Rowing Association (LRA), a summer program based at South Kent intended to train potential future Olympic oarsmen. From 1968 through 1971, LRA won multiple national junior championships. Chick took the LRA crew to compete at the 1968 junior world rowing championships in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In 1969, Chick became South Kent’s head crew coach and achieved great success, culminating in a New England championship in 1973. Later, Chick led an effort to bring the Eastern Association of Women’s Rowing Colleges (EAWRC) Eastern Sprints regatta to Lake Waramaug in New Preston, CT. In recognition of Chick’s importance to the regatta and his contributions to women’s collegiate rowing, the EAWRC awards the Charles G. Willing Trophy each year to the women’s crew with the most overall points at the regatta.
Throughout his life, Chick was actively involved in public affairs. He served for multiple terms as a Selectman for the Town of Kent, CT and in leadership roles for the local Democratic Party.
For many years, Chick and Roberta and their family spent summers in Ogunquit, ME, where they had first met. Their house on Shore Road near Perkins Cove was constantly full of family, extended family, friends and laughter. After Chick and Roberta “retired” from South Kent in the early 1990s, they moved permanently to Ogunquit. There, Roberta owned and operated the Animal Crackers gift shop and Chick became a real estate agent and served for multiple terms as an Ogunquit Town Selectman.
In 1999, Chick and Roberta moved to Eliot, where Roberta passed away in 2002. Chick continued to reside at their home in Eliot and to work in real estate with his long-time business partner, Kelly Kiernan. He was an active member of both First Parish Congregational Church in York, ME and Saint Martin’s Catholic Church in Somersworth, NH. He also chaired the First Parish Cemetery Association board of trustees and served on the Marvelwood School (Kent, CT) board of trustees for many years.
During the course of his life, Chick rarely sat still for long and loved learning new things. He greatly enjoyed playing music and was proficient at many instruments, including the guitar, banjo, violin and fiddle, and was a member of the New England Fiddle Ensemble, practicing and performing all over Southern Maine and New Hampshire. He was also a prolific baker and well known by his friends and family alike for his communion bread, elegant cornucopias, pies and other baked delights.
Survivors include his three sons, Charles G. Willing Jr. and his wife, Maura, of Concord, NH, Robin S. Willing and his wife, Wendy, of Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Brian D. Willing and his wife, Kathryn, of Amstelveen, Netherlands; a sister, Lucille Wargo and her husband, Paul, of Sarasota, FL; and four granddaughters, Elizabeth Willing, Virginia Willing, Eleanor Willing and Charlotte Willing.
The family wishes to thank Karen Zaramba, Christine Diehl, Kelly Kiernan and Angel Baker for giving extraordinary support to Chick in his later years, enabling him to live these years as he wanted to.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Pope Memorial Humane Society – Cocheco Valley, Dover, NH, or to South Kent School, South Kent, CT. Services will be announced at a later date.