Charles Silas “Cy” Ludwig

WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas – Charles Silas “Cy” Ludwig, died at the age of 83 on July 14, 2024, in the presence of family and loved ones.

Born Jan. 19, 1941, of Ruth and Floyd Ludwig in Augusta. Cy was the third of six children, including brothers John, Pete, Sky, and sisters Sue and Deb. Growing up on a farm in Chelsea with this crew, he developed an infectious laugh and was filled with kindness and love for all creatures great and small.

Raised in a family rich with talent and creativity, he developed a passion for music for which he was known and admired. He was blessed with a golden bass voice and an impeccable ear. As a vocalist, he wrote, arranged and sang with community choirs and barbershop groups throughout his life, including at Colby College where he sang and arranged music for The Colby Eight.

Graduating Colby in ’63, he then began his career in the Air Force. He was first stationed in Germany where, with his new wife Kathleen in tow, he fathered his first two children, Gretchen and Adam. His third child Samantha arrived after returning to Maine, where he remained in the armed forces as a reservist and a personnel specialist for the Maine National Guard, eventually retiring from that position as a lieutenant colonel.

After a brief second marriage he headed west to Sacramento, Calif. where he met and married his last and forever love, Wilma Ann. In California he continued as a personnel manager in the armed forces, taking positions at various bases and moving from one to the next as the military shuttered and consolidated facilities during that time. Landing in Barstow, Calif., he began the next phase of his life that would take him through a wide array of careers – all lending themselves to his special gift for communication as he resourcefully found work teaching special education, selling cars, driving news trucks, selling real estate, and selling millwork at home stores. All jobs being a means to an end, Cy did whatever it took to support his family.

Moving around, from Barstow to Fort Worth, Texas, to Rockland, and back to Fort Worth, Texas, Cy found work to pay the bills while also seeking out like minded souls to sing and make music. He directed school and community choirs and sang with vocal ensembles wherever he could find them. That included any spontaneous event he could orchestrate – be it leading a willing family door to door singing Christmas carols in four-part harmony or enlisting his grandnephew Tim to serenade fellow ferry passengers on sail out to Great Diamond Isle for a holiday party.

Cy enjoyed lending his gifts and finding opportunities for others. One of his proudest achievements was as a recruiter for the Air Force Academy for which he interviewed, counseled and advocated for new applicants.

Cy was also a daredevil. He had a passion for fast and powerful cars, trucks, motorcycles and snow sleds. He camped out at NASCAR races and enjoyed competing in National Toboggan Racing which he called “the green version of NASCAR.” He learned to fly planes in his teens, tutored by his neighbor Bill Perry, who unwittingly facilitated Cy’s youthful barnstorming, barrel-rolling antics whenever he allowed Cy to borrow one of his aircraft.

Cy loved his family including those that came ready-made with his wife Ann. They included her children Jackie, Carol, Darlene and Donald. He loved spending time cheering on her grandchildren, Thomas, Jonathan, Rachel, Ryan (Jackie), Samantha, Nicole, Amanda, and Nathan (Darlene) in whatever activities they were engaged and then later, the great-grandchildren. He adored them all.

Cy’s legacy lives on through his children Gretchen, Adam, and Samantha; and his grandchildren from them, Sky, Theo, Charlie, Maria, Silas and Atti. In addition, he is survived by all his brothers, sisters and their kin including Cy’s brother John and his children Cindy, Sally and Scott with their children and grandchildren; Cy’s brother Pete and his children Laurie and Heidi with her children; Cy’s sister Sue and her children Deborah, Carrie and Tracy with her child; Cy’s brother Sky; and Cy’s sister Deborah.

A celebration of Cy’s life will be held at 11 a.m. on Dec. 28 at Highland Avenue UMC, 35 Highland Ave. in Gardiner.

In lieu of flowers, the family wishes for any donations to be given to the American Kidney Fund in Cy’s name by visiting https://www.kidneyfund.org.