Charles Norris Tawes, 86

CRISFIELD - Charles Norris "Scorchy" Tawes, 86, died of cardiovascular disease Monday, Jan. 29, 2007, at Alice Byrd Tawes Nursing Home in Crisfield.

Born in Crisfield on Jan. 20, 1921, he was a son of the late John Ellis Dido Tawes and the late Bessie Parks Marshall. His wife of 66 years, Ellen Jean Tawes, died Nov. 19, 2005.

A graduate of Crisfield High School's class of 1936, Scorchy enlisted in the army during World War II, serving as an infantryman in Gen. George S. Patton's 3rd Army fighting in the Battle of the Bulge.

After the war, he played first base on the Crisfield Vets baseball team, and later, was inducted into the Eastern Shore Baseball Hall of Fame. Scorchy was a prime mover in establishing Little League baseball and Biddie League basketball in Crisfield in the late 40s and early 50s.

During the 1960s, he managed the Somers Cove Marina in Crisfield, and a few years later, he began to write and perform radio and television commercials for a local bank. He was also a musician, playing string bass in two popular local orchestras of the time.

During the post-war years, Scorchy also pursued his passion for photography, and soon became well-known and in demand as a photographer. Decades of Crisfield history were captured by his lens, as well as weddings, local people, landscapes, and water scenes.

The Ward Museum in Salisbury exhibited his photos for a three-month period in 1993; and his photographs also appeared in Ducks Unlimited magazine, the Ford Times, and a number of other publications. Over the years, he was featured in several newspapers and magazines, including Delaware Today. He wrote a fishing report for the Baltimore Sun for three years, and served as a stringer for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Still, there was always time for his second passion, fishing. And Scorchy was proud to say that he had fished for every species of fish in Delmarva waters, as well as in the Atlantic Ocean.

Scorchy joined the staff at WBOC TV in 1975 as an outdoor reporter, and soon demonstrated another talent, that of a storyteller. Over nearly three decades of wandering his "Delmarvalous Land", Scorchy told stories about Eastern Shore people, animals, hunting, and fishing; and in telling, won a number of Associated Press Awards as best in his field.

In 2004, he was awarded an Emmy, the prestigious Ted Yates Award, which was presented to him in Washington, D.C., by the Chesapeake Bay Chapter of the National Television Academy. Scorchy also produced 26 videos recording the history of Delmarva and the world of fishing.

After retiring from WBOC, he published several booklets of his photographs, and frequently taught Elderhostel groups at the Tawes Museum in Crisfield. He was honored to have had a yearly fishing tournament, the Scorchy Tawes Pro-Am Fishing Tournament, named after him. Scorchy was a member of Immanuel United Methodist Church, as well as the Stanley Cochrane Post No. 16 American Legion, both in Crisfield and was a life member of AMSA.

In spite of his many accomplishments, Scorchy considered himself an ordinary person. His greatest pleasure was found in being with his family, and hanging out at Gordon's in Crisfield, telling tall fish tales. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends, and our "Delmarvalous Land".

Scorchy is survived by four children, Pat Gray and her husband Harry of Salisbury, Butch Tawes and his wife Justine of Crisfield, Tim Tawes and his wife Bobbi Lynn of Marion Station and Jeanne Hanke and her husband Bob of Marion Station; nine grandchildren, David Tawes, Brian Tawes, Andrew Tawes, Kymberly Tawes, Michael Gray, Leslie Westfall, Lisa Gibson, Ashley Hanke and Robert Hanke; and nine great-grandchildren.

In addition to his parents and his wife, he was preceded in death by his brother, Elton Eugene Tawes, who was killed in action in World War II.

Funeral services were held Thursday, Feb. 1, 2007, at 11 a.m. at Immanuel United Methodist Church in Crisfield. The Rev. Steve Willing and The Rev. Bill Davis officiated. Burial with military honors followed in Sunnyridge Memorial Park in Crisfield.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be sent to Alice Byrd Tawes Nursing Home Building Fund, 201 Hall Highway, Crisfield, MD 21817 or to Coastal Hospice, P.O. Box 1733, Salisbury, MD 21802-1733.