Charlie Toth
I never met Charlie Toth in person, but he had a huge impact on me.
A member of the Coupeville High School Class of 1976, and an inductee in the Coupeville Sports Hall o’ Fame as part of the ’75-’76 boys basketball squad, Mr. Toth passed away Thursday.
He had fought against an inoperable brain tumor for 14 years.
My first contact with Charlie came in Oct., 2013, when he reached out to me on Facebook to ask a question about Nick Streubel’s college football plans.
After that we talked back and forth from time to time.
He was a fountain of information about teams and players from the ’70s, a stretch of time when the Wolves were highly successful.
Charlie was part of that, though he was quick to brush off any reflected glory, joking “My butt warmed many benches at CHS before my graduation.”
During our discussions, we talked sports and writing, and he was unfailing in always giving me a boost, telling me how much he had enjoyed a certain article, or pointing out a new direction I could take my research in.
He came back to town for his 40-year reunion, but I was out of town and missed out on the opportunity to meet him in person.
We had talked about sharing lunch the next time he was around — he offered to buy, which is an offer which can never be turned down by a writer scraping out a living day-to-day.
I knew a little of his health issues, but didn’t realize what a heroic battle he had fought until the news of his passing.
What I do know is in our online conversations he came across as an extraordinarily decent man, a guy who remembered his time at CHS (and his friends from there) with real joy.
Our conversations, peppered with tidbits of history and pats on the back (which always seemed to come at just the right time), were a genuine pleasure.
I appreciate what he gave me, and I hope, through my writing here on Coupeville Sports, I honor him.
Coupeville Sports 