Neville, Charles "Chip"

Charles "Chip" Neville passed away in West Hartford on February 4th, 2024 at the age of 82. Chip lived in many different states before moving to Connecticut, but his early life on the family farm in Cornish, Utah shaped him. He often spoke of the friendship between his mother and her two aunts, Virgina and Mae. Their values of learning, justice, and generosity, along with a penchant for puns and a gift for storytelling, made a lasting impression on Chip.

He furthered his storytelling abilities as a high school debater in Virginia. To Chip, a good debate was a good conversation, even if the topic was as seemingly ridiculous as whether dusk and hurricanes occur in Hawai'i or as arcane as the history of invasions on the Central Asian steppe. He passed on his love of learning and storytelling by reading books like the Earthsea Trilogy, Sherlock Holmes, and the Odyssey to his children when they were young. He also loved to tell stories about Bigfoot, Nessie, and the Bear Lake Monster.

Entering Yale after his junior year at Fairfax High School, Chip often felt like a bit of an outsider, but he made lifelong friends and ultimately completed degrees in mathematics and physics. Later, during doctoral studies at the University of Illinois, he went back south to register voters in Vicksburg, Mississippi in 1965 and later committed to tenant organizing in Chicago.

Chip shared his love of math and technology with those around him. After several decades of teaching, he retired from Central Connecticut State University in 2001. He first taught in the mathematics department and was later a founder of the computer science department. He sometimes compared himself to Oscar the Grouch, but students who were excited to learn held a special place for him. At home, he encouraged his daughters early on with a Commodore 64, a dial-up modem, and a sense of fearlessness that very little could be permanently broken. He did, however, once set up a wireless system that was so secure only he knew how to manage it.

Chip hardly spent money on himself, even when he had it. The linoleum floor in his kitchen was held together with duct tape for at least 15 years and, before he met his wife Judi, he often wore clothes until they were threadbare. But with his friends, family, and for issues he cared about, he was uncommonly generous. He stood by people, even when it was unpopular. He gave cash to friends - and friends of friends - in need. After he finished grading papers each December, he could be seen at the kitchen table writing out checks to as many organizations as he could.

A computer command to delete all files is rm -rf*. Chip found it a humorous way to close chapters of his life and it seems appropriate to share that here.

Chip is survived by the LOVE OF HIS LIFE, Judi Ann Goodman, daughters Rachel and Anne, sons-in-law Keith and Diego, granddaughters Ellie and Ana, sister Jill and brother-in-law Mike, niece Erin and nephewin-law Joe, and a community of friends who loved and cared for him as much as he did for them.

A celebration of Chip's life will be held at Chatfield Brookdale in West Hartford at 1pm on February 17. Contributions to the American Mathematical Society, JMM Child Care Grants (https://www.ams.org/childcare-grants) in Chip's memory are appreciated.