(Updated on June 18, 2024 to include precise date and cause of death, and to add a copy of his draft registration card.)
Maxime "Max" Louis DuCharme, Jr. who was Linton Hall Military School's fourth and last Commandant, passed away on June 8, 2018 at “22:23 Military” time (according to the death certificate) at Bozeman Deaconess Hospital in Bozeman, Montana due to a complete heart block two days before his death. He was ninety years old. Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. on June 21 at Sunset Hills Cemetery in Bozeman, Montana. Mr. DuCharme was cremated. Born on December 17, 1927, in Washington, D.C., he was himself a Linton Hall alumnus, having attended during seventh and eighth grade.
In 1946, he graduated from Belmont Abbey, a high school founded by Benedictine monks (and later a four-year college) in Belmont, N.C.. Belmont Abbey's 1946 yearbook, the Spire, below his name bears the quote "The cynosure of neighboring eyes," a quote from John Milton's 1645 L'Allegro. He is described in the yearbook as "A happy-go-lucky fellow, handsome, plays football, and loves a good bull session. His effervescent friendliness and his gentlemanly manner [have] won many friends for him during his past four years at the Abbey. He is a cadet Lieutenant."
At age 18, after graduating from high school, he enlisted in the U.S. Marines, and trained at Parris Island, S.C. and Camp LeJeune, N.C.. As a Marine, he was sent to Trinidad, Cuba, Puerto Rico, and various European countries, and later participated in the 1950 landing in Inchon, Korea. He was later Operations Chief of the Engineering section of the Equipment branch, and did a tour of duty on the Japanese island of Okinawa. He married and had a son, then in 1959 became a Marine recruiter in Traverse City, Michigan. He retired from the USMC with the rank of Master Sargeant. A proficient marksman, he was awarded at least two NRA medals.
In 1965 he became Linton Hall's fourth and final Commandant. After the school dropped the military program, he continued at Linton Hall, teaching "Outdoor Education, Conservation and Ecology" (OECW) which apparently is quite similar to the field hikes of LHMS.
His wife, Agnes Louise, passed away in 2011 at age 80.
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Source: Bozeman Daily Chronicle and various other sources.
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