Bangor - Chuck Gould, 86, went to be with Jesus, his Lord and Savior, in his sleep on June 27, 2022. Chuck was born in 1935, in Youngstown, Ohio and raised in nearby Poland, Ohio by his loving and caring parents, Howard "Chap" and Florilla "Frill" Gould. He is survived by Susanna, his wife of fifty-five happy years; and two children, Stephen, by his first marriage to Penny Allen, and Katherine Hunter (and Bryan, his son-in-law); as well as two grandchildren, Andrew and Evelyn Marston, and by his sister, Ann Allan. Chuck and Susanna's son, Charles Jr., predeceased him in 1974.
Chuck graduated from Poland Seminary High School with his Eagle Scout in 1953 and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering in 1957. Upon graduation, he was assigned to the Civil Engineer Corps of the U.S. Navy, achieving the rank of lieutenant, prior to joining Raymond International, Inc. He managed heavy construction projects including the Mt. Coffee Hydroelectric Project for which he was knighted by William V. S. Tubman, president of Liberia in 1967.
He was subsequently employed by Mergentime Corporation and managed high-risk megaprojects, such as underpinning buildings for the construction of the Metro subway in Washington D.C. He became Director and Manager of a design-build contract for underpinning a yet-to-be-completed nuclear power plant in Michigan. Chuck considered that project to be his crowning achievement as an engineer and manager in spite of the fact that the plant was licensed to use only conventional fuel. He became known as a manager who could remove obstacles.
In 1976 he joined the academic ranks, first at the University of Michigan where he taught and earned his master's degree in Civil Engineering. Next, he taught at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1985, and then in 1989, he moved to the University of Maine, becoming a full professor prior to retiring in 2002.
In his retirement years Chuck continued managing construction or rehabilitation projects including a two-mile access road through a swamp and up at twenty-degree hill to their camp on Green Lake. He followed that with the Cortland Circle Renaissance Project, rejuvenating a community of fifty retirement homes. Both Chuck and Susanna were active in their church, Pilgrim Orthodox, and Chuck made many close friendships in his "Olders" group. The last nine years had been dedicated to working on his daughter's farm and building the project-of-the-day with the grandkids. Chuck and Susanna flourished very happily together through fifty-five years, while sharing an enduring mutual love that included knowing and loving Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.
While Chuck's academic and business achievements were impressive, he was well-known for the quality of his character, learned at home and in church and in the Boy Scouts. He told the truth, stood up for the underdog, and finished what he started. As much as he enjoyed telling stories of boyhood adventures of falling bridges, asphyxiating hammock tents, and train rides out west, he thrived on projects. If you knew Chuck, you were probably involved in a project with him.
Chuck took the main principles of construction management and lived them. He moved his family over fifteen times, and each move was a well-orchestrated event with a critical path and inventories, and most of all, contracts. His move from business to academia was regenerative; his students learned from his stories, his challenges, and, ever-present, his character. If you knew Chuck, you made changes in your life for the better.
If you had asked Chuck about his many construction projects, he would have admitted to you that most of them were already gone. His life's value was not in his accomplishments, nor his mistakes. He spent his time and money investing in other people because he knew what really mattered. If you knew Chuck, you understood that God was in control.
A memorial service will be held at the Pilgrim Presbyterian Church, Bangor, ME, on September 20, at 1:30 p.m.
Condolences may be sent via email to missingchuckgould@outlook.com.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Charles H. Gould Scholarship Fund and mailed to Associated General Contractors of Maine at: AGC Maine Education Foundation, Attn: Andrea Jewell,
188 Whitten Road, Augusta, ME 04330. Please include Chuck's name on the memo line.