Charles Kurt Fuglister

The Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) notes with sadness the passing of Charles K. Fuglister, 79, a former MBL employee for nearly 43 years, on February 3 in Falmouth. A resident of Woods Hole, Fuglister worked at MBL from 1969 to 2012. For many of those years, he was a live-in caretaker in the Swope Building. The MBL flag will be lowered in his memory.

 An obituary published by his family is here and reprinted below.

Charles Kurt Fuglister died in Falmouth on 3 February 2025 at the age of 79. Kurt was a lifelong Woods Hole resident who was born in Wareham on 22 December 1945 to Frederick “Fritz” and Cecelia Bowerman Fuglister.

Kurt attended Falmouth schools until attending a Quaker preparatory school in Pennsylvania. He then attended Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. When he left Earlham, he applied for and was granted conscientious objector status and served a two-year alternate service at the Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Newton, Massachusetts. Upon release from service, he joined the staff of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. He then moved to a permanent position at the Marine Biological Laboratory where he worked until retirement. Kurt’s major interest was photography and he was often hired to inspect and photograph underwater including electrical cable connections, boat moorings and hull conditions. He will be remembered by his friends and family for his many stories that began “here in Woods Hole…”

Kurt was predeceased by his parents and his brother Frederick “Eric” Fuglister. He is survived by his sister Elisabeth Stewart of San Diego, his brother’s wife Jayne Fuglister, their children Gillian Battino, Julie Chapin and Frederick Thomas Fuglister, and their families. He is also survived by his cousins, the Bowerman, Gentile and Work families of West Falmouth.

Kurt requested that there be no memorial service and that his ashes be scattered at sea.