Charles Phillip LaVarge

Charles Phillip LaVarge passed away at home in Norwich, Connecticut, on December 26, 2023, at the age of 78. He was born in Norwich on March 25, 1945 and spent his early years there. He graduated from the Norwich Free Academy Art School in 1963 and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Cooper Union in New York City in 1967. He subsequently spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard. He worked as a design draftsman in New London and Houston, before leaving to care for his parents, which he did faithfully until their deaths. They were able to enjoy trips to Italy, Switzerland, and Canada together.

Phil was a talented and active artist his entire life, working prolifically and with great proficiency in a wide range of media, including drawing, oil painting, printmaking, relief carving, stained glass, and bronze sculpture. He drew inspiration from the towns of eastern Connecticut; Prince Edward Island, Canada; Galveston, Texas; from Life Drawing workshops at the Lyme Academy College of Fine Arts; and from his active imagination. His painting of the corner of State and Bank Streets in New London won a civic award in 2002.

Phil was a wonderful conversationalist, versed in topics as diverse as economics, world affairs, history, genealogy, and raising chickens, and also a good listener. A compassionate person, he adopted stray dogs, including his beloved Curly, cared for feral cats, and provided an endless buffet for the many birds that visited his arbor.

Phil’s parents, Charles Bernard and Harriet Ricker LaVarge, and his sister, Elizabeth LaVarge Cramer, predeceased him. Phil is survived by his niece and nephew, Elizabeth Ann Cash (David Cash) and Charles Andrew Cramer (Kim Grant), his brother-in-law and close friend, Barton E. Cramer, and his cousins, David Ricker, Jonathan Ricker, and Michael Devine (Chantal Devine). He is sorely missed. No public funeral or memorial service is planned.