Charles Glenn Stevens ’54, a standout baseball and soccer player at Cortland, positively influenced the lives of two generations of students as a successful teacher, coach and administrator at Stockbridge Valley Central School in Munnsville, N.Y.
The Port Leyden, N.Y., native was a four-year goalie in soccer at SUNY Cortland. As a senior, he captained the team, earned honorable mention all-state honors and won the Red Letter Award. An outfielder and catcher for the Cortland baseball squad, he hit .439 as a junior and a .500 batting average during his senior season, when he was the team captain and the Red Letter Award recipient.
Stevens earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education in 1954 and joined the Stockbridge Valley Central School staff that autumn. He remained there until his retirement 31 years later.
He taught K-12 physical education and 7-12 health. The athletic director from 1954-80, he coached varsity football, basketball and baseball. He started and coached the soccer and varsity track and field teams and was a junior varsity basketball coach. He supervised student teachers and advised the Varsity Club. In 1995, he received the Excellence in Sportsmanship Award from the Stockbridge Valley Central School Booster Club.
Within the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA), Stevens chaired the Section III Basketball Committee for 10 years and served on the committee for a quarter-of-a-century.
For 10 years, he served as recreation director of Carlon Park in Munnsville. From 1960-68, he was elected mayor of the Village of Munnsville. He was active in both St. Therese Church in Munnsville and St. Patrick Church in Chittenango, N.Y. He was a member of the Chittenango High School Athletic Booster Club and a Connie Mack baseball coach for the Town of Sullivan Parks and Recreation Department in Chittenango during the 1970's and 1980's.
A member of the Chittenango Lions Club since 1974, he is a two-time past president. From 1955-85, he worked as a security guard at Vernon Downs Racetrack in Vernon, N.Y. Since 1986, he has operated his own financial services business.
Stevens and his wife, Ann, have eight children: Mack, Karen Stevens Diefendorf ’79, Peter ’81, Richard, Charles, Mary, Theresa Stevens Savery, and Thomas, and several grandchildren.
UPDATE: Stevens passed away in February of 2012.
