Digest>Archives> August 1998

Memory Lane

By Ellen Taussig

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Charles Rumsey with the original lens from the ...

From the top of the lighthouse he can see the world

Twice a week, a thoughtful yet happy man, a man awake to the wonder and opportunities of the world around him, a man with a keen sense of past and present, mounts the 199 steps of the Cape May Point Lighthouse and experiences what is perhaps the greatest kick of his adventurous and varied life.

Charles Russell Rumsey, 76, a Phildephian by birth, has seen much of the world - from the waters of the Amazon to the volcanic shores of Iwo Jima.

But in his opinion, the sweep of this 139-year-old watchtower by night, and the view of the sunlit beacon by day, surpasses them all.

One if three sons of John, a cabinetmaker, and his wife, Martha, nee Coleman, Charles was introduced to the wonders of the Point's Lighthouse in 1988 by his brother Robert, owner of the Sea Breeze Motel, Cape may.

He had grown up in the tower's shadow. As a young boy, he visited his maternal grandmother, Martha Coleman, who summered there.

But as a child, Charles was busy with something else at the shore. He liked to draw - a gull, the sea, the wetland grasses. He would eventually work in watercolors.

Now, however, he is in his 10th year as a lighthouse guide. During his four-hour shifts he welcomes many of the 700,000 men, women, and children who visit the Cape May State Park where the lighthouse stands. Before each shift he ceremoniously dons the cap and apron of the late Harry Palmer, the last lighthouse keeper to tend the great beam by hand. Mr. Rumsey's sense of wonder, breadth of view and history is - as the French would put it - a fait accompli. No seagull is happier.

An automatic electric aviation beacon was installed in the tower in 1945.

Cape May Point Lighthouse has just been restored by the Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts - to the tune of approximately $10 million - and is now open to the public.

Livelihood is an important factor in life, and John and Martha sent their fledgling artist to LaSalle College, now a university, in Philadelphia, to study business administration. War broke out shortly thereafter, and in 1942, 20-year old Charles, a member of the U.S. Naval Reserves, enlisted in the Navy.

After receiving radio transmission training, he sailed as Radioman 1/C for Brazil to hunt German submarines along the Amazon River and search for "wolf packs," clandestine enemy radio stations along the coast.

Next, with 65 others, he entered the Naval Training School in Seattle to study the Japanese wireless code and operate a typewriter with a 65-key Japanese language keyboard.

Charles rolls his eyes recalling the assignment: "It was difficult," he admits. But he made it.

He was then dispatched to Hawaii and Iwo Jima for service in radio interpretation among the many islands of the South Pacific. It wasn't like the musical comedy.

World War II was over in 1945, but realizing the importance of national defense, Charles again joined the Naval Reserves. He returned to LaSalle, and by 1948 had completed his B.S. in business administration.

Charles married Jane DeVine that year, a beautiful girl with a calm manner. They had met at a St. Patrick's Day dance. The bands were playing "How Are things in Glocca Morra?" in those days.

The Rumseys will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary November 23.

They have two children, Charles III and Mary Ann. Colonel David W. Rumsey, U.S. Army (Ret.) is also a brother of Charles.

Charles was called to the Korean War in 1949, to engage in tracking down Russian military and diplomatic codes, a deterrent to Russian aid to Korea.

Returning home at war's end, he got his master's degree in business administration at Drexal Institute. He also studied at Fleisher Memorial Art, an art academy in Philadelphia.

In 1960 Charles returned to the William J. Laughlin bookbinding supply house, where he had worked briefly before going to war. He rose to treasurer, retiring only this year, having spent the last months as a consultant.

In 1978, the Rumseys bought a small house in Erma, N.J. Charles restored it from scratch and built several extra rooms. It stands on about an acre of ground with pleasant shade and a handsome ornamental wooden fence. On the back lawn i s a much smaller building, headquarters for Charles Rumsey's amateur radio operation, licensed by the Federal Communication, as AA 2FA.

He had travelled too far to settle down and limit his view and interest to a single town. In the little house on the lawn he is in touch with the world by wireless telegraphy several hours a day.

"I've met people from Italy, Germany, France, Russia, Switzerland and other countries," he says a bit proudly, "and gotten to know some of them personally. We've written and communicate with some regularly."

Thus the air of Charles' retirement is a very populated place, more varied even than war adventures. It's cordial, sociable, informative association of peace, not war.

Nevertheless, he is not detached from the country and county where he lives. His paintings embrace it.

A recognized and successful artist, Charles' work had been widely shown, and cited, in area galleries. Currently, the Mariner Art Gallery in Wildwood Crest is offering his "watercolors of nautical and rustic Cape May County scenery in a marvelous freehand style."

It's time for lunch. Charles comes in from his wireless office. Jane, who has just finished the local paper, is waiting for news of that larger world.

"Just heard from Erico Santiago in Naples," Charles reports, "he's had his fifth grandson."

Jane smiles looking around with pleasure at their menage hung with a few of her favorite paintings by Charles:

"What's new in Paris?" she asks.

This story appeared in the August 1998 edition of Lighthouse Digest Magazine. The print edition contains more stories than our internet edition, and each story generally contains more photographs - often many more - in the print edition. For subscription information about the print edition, click here.

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