Laconia----Dr. Charles Edward Wilder, 85, of 34 Taylor Home Drive, Laconia, New Hampshire, passed away on Wednesday, February 2, 2011 at his home.
Dr. Wilder was born in Madura, India to Congregational missionary parents. His father, Edward Wheeler Wilder, devoted his life as a physician to heading a hospital there.
Charles attended Kodaikanal School, an American missionary boarding school in the mountains of South India, with his three brothers. They were to remain close for the rest of his life. After high school, in 1942, leaving his family behind, he traveled to the United States in an American troop ship under blackout conditions.
He entered Antioch College at age 16, later transferring to Baldwin Wallace for the Navy V-12 pre-med program and graduating from college at age 19. After further training at the Great Lakes Training Center, the Navy sent him to Boston University School of Medicine. During his training, he spent summers hitching rides on freight trains, sleeping under the stars, hiking and traveling across the country, working a wide variety of jobs. Some of this travel was with Kodai School friends with whom he remained close his whole life.
His postgraduate training, after the award of his M.D. degree, included a residency in tropical medicine in Canal Zone. His active duty in the Navy took him to North Carolina, Japan and Korea. Back in the States, he was awarded fellowships first from Harvard and Tufts and then from the U.S. Public Health System, giving him the opportunity to publish his research in scientific journals.
Attracted to New Hampshire’s hiking, skiing and sailing, he became Laconia’s first cardiologist. He began the solo practice of cardiology and internal medicine in a small office in his home on North Main Street, with an EKG machine, a simple lab, and an exam table. For the next thirty years, he was to find caring for his friends and neighbors in a small town very rewarding.
During his first year of medical practice, while married to Gisela Hanstein, his daughter, Inga, was born. Some years after their divorce, he married Nancy Eddy who shared his passion for hiking and skiing. They won several trophies racing their sailboats. He also joined famous guide, Willi Unsoeld, for challenging mountain climbing in the Himalayas.
He was a dedicated father and during his retirement enjoyed taking his grandchildren hiking and boating and sharing with them his love of poetry and literature. He also enjoyed researching his genealogy and continued a lifelong commitment to supporting national and international charities. In 2008, he and Nancy celebrated their 30th anniversary. In addition to their other interests, they took advantage of retirement to travel more widely, exploring nature and varied cultures.
He is survived by his wife, Nancy, daughter, Inga Robbins, brothers and sisters-in-law, Dorothy Wilder, David and Peggy Wilder, Donald and Alison Wilder, and granddaughters, Talia and Sarah Robbins.
There will be no calling hours.
A Memorial Service will be held on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 2:00pm at the Laconia Congregational Church, 69 Pleasant Street, Laconia, N.H.
In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to one of his favorite charities, Central Asia Institute (www.ikat.org, phone 877-585-7841) Central Asia Institute | P.O. Box 7209 | Bozeman, MT 59771, or the Mayhew Foundation, (www.mayhew.org, phone 603- 744-6131) The Mayhew Program, Newfound Lake, P.O. Box 120, Bristol, NH 03222.
Wilkinson-Beane-Simoneau-Paquette Funeral Home & Cremation Services, 164 Pleasant Street, Laconia, NH is assisting the family with the arrangements. For more information and to view an online memorial go to www.wilkinsonbeane.com.