Charles Lee McIlvaine III, 71, businessman

While a member of the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry, one of the oldest military units in the United States, Charles Lee McIlvaine III raised his hand to help with almost anything.

When President Richard Nixon visited Philadelphia in the 1970s, Mr. McIlvaine served as one of his body guards from the troop. He volunteered for the Vietnam War. He gave 39 years of service to the National Guard.

"It was a big part of his life," said his wife of 45 years, Susan McIlvaine. "Charlie was just always there to help anybody who needed it."

Mr. McIlvaine, 71, of Wyndmoor, a devoted military member and a retired employee of the insurance and financial sectors, died Tuesday, Sept. 1, of heart failure at his summer home in Harpswell, Maine.

Raised in Chestnut Hill, Mr. McIlvaine spent his personal and professional life building a network of people to whom he was devoted, his wife said. But he escaped every summer to Maine, where generations of his family had vacationed in the same cottage nearly every year since 1890.

Continuing the tradition for his own children, Mr. McIlvaine and his wife often flocked to the Maine shore annually with their two sons.

"I think one of his greatest joys was going up there and that three generations usually joined us," said Susan McIlvaine, 69. "The picnics with his mom, our kids - that was very, very important to him."

After graduating from Chestnut Hill Academy in 1962, Mr. McIlvaine attended Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., and graduated from the American College of Financial Services in Bryn Mawr with a Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU) designation.

He worked for multiple insurance agencies in the area and then later in the finance sector for the Philadelphia Stock Exchange, among other places.

He spent weekends volunteering for the Philadelphia troop and the National Guard, and though he ultimately was never called to serve abroad, he remained devoted to service in the region and state, his wife said.

His interests broad and far-reaching, Mr. McIlvaine was also a 25-year member of the Philadelphia Mineralogical Society and the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia. Often, his wife said, he could be found reading multiple books at one time.

"Always one to challenge himself and always one for pleasure," she said. "He had a love of learning, always."

Besides his wife, he is survived by a son, C. Lee McIlvaine IV; a sister; and a granddaughter. His son Edward preceded him in death.

A memorial service is to be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 16, at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, 22 E. Chestnut Hill Ave., Philadelphia.

Memorial donations may be sent to the First Troop Philadelphia City Cavalry Military Heritage and Education Foundation at the Armory, 22 S. 23d St., Philadelphia, and to the Edward McIlvaine Scholarship at Philadelphia Outward Bound School, 3250 West Sedgley Dr., Philadelphia.

cmccabe@philly.com

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