Obituary of Charles McCullough

Charles Vance McCullough passed away unexpectedly on Monday August 19, 2013 at the age of 69. He is survived by his wife of 21 years Ruth Hussey, his daughters Cristin Gadsby (Howard) and Elizabeth Buddle (Doug); his step-children Jennifer Paulosky (Dave), Andrea Hageman (John) and Kevin Hussey, his siblings Denise McCullough, Brian McCullough (Deb), Hal McCullough Jr. (Kathy) and Jeffrey McCullough; his first wife Kathe Christensen, and his grandchildren Lauren Gadsby, Howard Gadsby, Grace Buddle, Kayla Paulosky and Erica Paulosky, and numerous nieces, nephews and extended family. Born in Brooklyn, NY on October 22, 1943, Vance grew up in Ithaca, NY where he was a 1960 graduate of Ithaca High School. He went on to earn two degrees at Penn State, a BS in Physical Education in 1966 and a MS in Sports Psychology in 1976. Vance was an Army veteran and a graduate of the Infantry School, the JFK Special Warfare School and the Defense Language Institute. During the Vietnam conflict he commanded a Mobile Advisory Team conducting combat operations in conjunction with Montagnard tribesman in the Central Highlands. He concluded his service at the rank of Captain. His decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, the Combat Infantry Badge and associated service medals. In 1971 he returned to Penn State as a graduate assistant and began his full time employment a year later as an assistant in the Intramural Sports program. He was the facility manager for the Intramural Building upon its opening and was later appointed the Coordinator and subsequently Director of the Club Sports program until his retirement in July 1997. Under his guidance the Club Sports program was greatly expanded and gained national prominence for both the scope and accomplishments of the program. Vance was a driving force in creating a club sports department supporting many programs that were organizationally on par with NCAA teams. His legacy includes the Men's and Ladies Icers Hockey teams, as well as the nationally recognized men's and women's rugby teams. In addition to those duties, he served as Athletic coordinator for the Commonwealth Campus System and supervised various aspects of football game day operations at Beaver Stadium from 1988 until 1995. He enjoyed teaching recreational activity courses and taught a very popular course Orienteering and Survival Skills in the 1970's and 80's. In 1989, upon Joe Humphrey's retirement, he assumed the role as "Penn State's Fly Fishing Professor" and continued teaching the Angling course until his retirement. Vance was a skilled outdoorsman and after his retirement continued to guide and teach fly fisherman. He especially enjoyed the limestone streams of Centre County and the big rivers in Montana's Yellowstone country. He was a founding member of the Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited and remained active to this day in ClearWater Conservancy, participating in the Legends Fly Fishing Clinic and various youth clinics. With his brother Hal, he was the co-owner of Café 210 West from 1990 until 2008. Most recently Vance had been spending his time between Centre County, Montana and Florida, always with a fly rod at the ready. Visitation will be from 1:00 until 2:30 p.m., on Sunday, August 25, 2013 at Koch Funeral Home, 2401 S. Atherton Street, State College. A funeral service will follow at 2:30 p.m. at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the ClearWater Conservancy at www.clearwaterconservancy.org; the Spring Creek Chapter of Trout Unlimited at www.springcreektu.org, or other environmental or education based charities. Arrangements are under the care of Koch Funeral Home, State College. Online condolences and signing of the guest book may be entered at www.kochfuneralhome.com.