In Memory

Chuck Saacke



 
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11/21/15 10:46 AM #1    

Peter Rucci

I will always remember Chuck as a friendly classmate who, although he was a star athlete, always had time to be friends with those not so well endowed, myself included!  He was my friend and a friend to so many others.  I regret that we lost touch and that I do not know how his life transpired, except that, at our last reunion, he did tell me about some of the details, some not so happy as others.

He will live on in my memory

peter rucci


02/12/16 02:49 PM #2    

Marion Platt

I knew Chuck when he was Charlie in grade school. One day my father had been playing tennis- I think at the Lake Club. He came home and asked me if I knew Charlie and I said of course. My Dad went on to explain to me what an outstanding tennis player and gentleman he was on the courts. I remember thinking he's an outstanding person off the courts as well. In later years I learned that Chuck had been a very influential advocate and fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. This was long before his own cancer diagnosis. What a wonderful human being he was all of his life!

 


02/18/16 06:03 PM #3    

Chris Carlson

Chuck was really a great guy. As Peter has observed, although he was a gifted athlete himself he was always friendly to those (like me) less talented, and even let me get off an occasional jump shot or slicing backhand past him at net. And as Marion has noted, he was always a gentleman as well, both on and off the court.

Chuck really was a very talented athlete. In addition to his legendary prowess at tennis (Conn. state champ while at NCHS and #1 singles player at Duke all four years), Chuck was equally skilled at paddle tennis. He and Rich Blossom were the #1 nationally ranked junior team one year, and I believe he teamed with Pepper Sweet to achieve the same standing (or close to it) another year. Chuck was also an excellent basketball player. My best memory is of him launching a two-handed set shot for NCHS from well behind the half-court line as time expired, and catching nothing but net. 

I considered Chuck a good friend, and it was great to catch up with him at our 20th Reunion. I remember that after a number of us attended an "after party" at Gates Saturday night he needed to be shown the way back to the place in Fairfield where a friend was putting him up (my parents were living in Fairfield at the time, having moved from New Canaan after all the kids had grown up, so Dad could have a little longer commute to NYC). So I remember leading him on all the twisting, turning, narrow back roads (Catamount, etc.) from Exit 42 in Westport into the western side of Fairfield at 3AM, and he did a masterful job of navigating the same. So sad, it was the last time I saw him. He was an outstanding member of our class and is greatly missed.


02/22/16 09:24 AM #4    

Candy Creamer (Sweet)

 

Pepper Sweet here- Chuck was a great friend for much of my youth. He lived just down the street from me on weed street and we spent many years playing sports together. His parents were great to me also. We were close, I called them Ma and Pa Saacke. We had many wicked ping pong games in his basement. I rarely beat him but I did have a few moments. We both had the same tennis teacher, Yvonne Petra, a former Wimbledon champion who taught at woodway country club. It was around age 14 that Chuck began to elevate his game to another level. And yes he and I played in the junior nationals in paddle tennis in 1965. Chuck was concerned about my ability to hold serve as we made it to the finals so we practiced the night before and I told him don't worry. I then placed a quarter in the corner of the service court and stepped up to serve. You only get one serve in paddle tennis. I served and hit the quarter! "See, I gloated proudly!" We both smiled as good friends do. Unfortunately Chuck was right, we had a close match and the other team beat us when I lost my serve. However Chuck still had another year of eligibility and won the next year with a better partner.   I found out Chuck had passes when I went to contact him about playing in the paddle tennis nationals again for age 65 and over.  What a great friend! I will miss seeing him again. He was an unusually classy person

 

 


03/23/16 06:58 AM #5    

Doug Stormont

I remember Chuck was in my evening dancing class and was a classmate in my Spanish class.  However, what was more meaningful about him, especially as a tennis player, was his fame in that sport.  I was in my first year of college in central Illinois (Millikin Univeristy in Decatur) when  a fellow student, who came from a town in Connecticut outside Fairfield County, came up to me and asked me about Chuck.  We talked about his State Championship win and his appearance in Sports Illustrated.  In retrospect, it seems incredible that we were tallking about him amidst the cornfields of Illinois, but it reflects that he was known far and wide.


05/31/16 02:53 PM #6    

Sandy Harlow

The following comments about Chuck were posted by his wife Laura on the Classmates.com website on 2/1/16.

"Chuck passed away in January 2011 from brain cancer. Please know he often said his years in high school were THE best years ever, and I wanted to pass that on! He was inducted yesterday to USTA Kentucky Hall of Fame for Tennis, though he lived his last 17 years in Florida. I am sure he would just love to be there to share fabulous memories with you if he could!!"

Laura Saacke


05/31/16 05:43 PM #7    

Janet Richmond

I loved Chuck as we all did. I got to know him as he and I often sat together in home room.  Despite my shyness and fears of my own shadow, Chuck always made me feel like he was a friend and accepted me as such.  I will remember him dearly for his kindness!! 

 

 


07/18/16 08:28 PM #8    

Bill Saunders

For some reason, Chuck and I were in a lot of classes together.  I first met him in freshman gym class and marveled at his athletic ability. Coach Sikorski had us all running timed 50 yard dashes!  I was in Chuck’s group when we were being timed and trailed him out of the blocks with his lead widening with every stride! I was indeed humbled and realized that in terms of speed and quickness, Chuck was in a class by himself.  Coach Sikorski begged him to go out for football as a wide receiver in the fall and to be a sprinter on the track team in the spring. Unfortunately for “The Bear”, Chuck was one of the best soccer players in the state and one of the best tennis players in the nation!

Sophomore year we were in Mr. Perry’s Biology Class and junior year in Mr. Maier’s English class.  We ended up studying for tests together and I came to appreciate his keen intellect.  We also doubled dated a few times - Chuck was ever the ladies’ man with a charm and wit that I envied!   During senior year basketball season, we gave each other nicknames after Boston Celtic basketball players – his was “Havlisack” after the Celtic’s great sixth man John Havlicek!  He called me Satch after Tom “Satch” Sanders of the Celtics.  Amazingly his nickname for me stuck, more so in college than at NCHS. In fact Marilyn and I gave our first son the nickname “Satch”.  At his first day in kindergarten at a Catholic school the good Sister asked the students to stand up and tell their classmates their names! Our son introduced himself as Satch Saunders and was immediately corrected by Sister who told him his name was William!  Satch came home in tears and told us his teacher told him his name wasn’t Satch.  Marilyn had to have a conference with Sister and thereafter she always referred to him as Satch!

After graduation the next time I saw Chuck was at our last reunion! Since we both attended stag we hung out together and had a ball laughing and ruminating about our days at NCHS. I shared the “Satch” story with him and what he had started.  He smiled and said perfect. How blessed I am that Chuck passed my way on his life’s journey and I was able to travel on the road with him, if only for a few years!


08/26/16 12:36 PM #9    

Ann Thurber

Looking through the Thirty-Ninth Annual Commencement Exercises, Class of 1966, New Canaan High School, Monday, June 20, 1966, 8:00 p.m., I pause and breathe deeply.  There will be an "absence of presence" during our 50th Reunion.  Chuck, Vice President of the Class, led us in the Salue to the Flag on that very special evening.  We will be gathering soon with leaders Peter, Susan, and Marion to celebrate so many memories.  Surely Chuck will be there in spirit, tennis racquet in hand. 


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