From his brother Freeman.
The hearts of all your father's brothers were terribly wrung by his
death. For it has not often been given to a household to have a leading
member who commanded such reverently affectionate esteem as did our
brother Charles. His life, his spirit, his purposes, his exemplary
attitude toward worthy living, his generously helpful thought--always
expressed in action--how could they well be other than a constant
challenge to his brothers and sisters? We all have rare cause for deep
gratitude that he was ours for so many years; we cannot express our
gratitude for our memories of him.
From a friend.
There is just one mind and one expression regarding your dear
father--"One of the grand old men has gone to his reward." The presence
of Mr. Putney has been a benediction to our high school. How thankful
you must be that he had no lingering illness but just laid down his
books and entered into the fuller life. We thank God for such a presence
in our midst.
From an associate teacher.
In the years in school Mr. Putney was always ready with good counsel to
the younger men. He never seemed to lose his courage nor even to grow
old. The last time I saw him, his smile was as bright and his voice as
cheery as I remember it always to have been.
From another associate teacher.
I count myself very fortunate to have known your father, and to have
been his friend for a short time. He was one of the finest Christian
gentlemen I ever knew. His influence in the city, the church and the
school is certainly past all measuring.
From a friend.
A man whom literally thousands love and revere in memory, and whose work
and influence are still going on.
From a former pupil.
I need not tell you that his going is, as was the death of your blessed
mother, like the loss of one of my own parents. The kindness of those
two good people to me when I needed help of just the kind they so finely
and unselfishly gave has always been a most helpful influence in my
life. To grow old looking upon his advancing years and the future with
grace and an abiding faith, as Mr. Putney did, is in itself an
inspiration to us all.
From a more recent pupil.
I do not need to tell you how we all loved him--everyone did who ever
knew him. He was everybody's favorite teacher, and instead of hating to
go to his classes we loved to do so. Somehow I always felt better after
having talked with him, and I only wish everyone in the world could have
known him. He was a real gentleman and a scholar.
* * * * *
He is not dead, this friend; not dead,
But on some road by mortals tread,
Got some few trifling steps ahead;
And nearer to the end;
So that you too once past the bend,
Shall meet again, as face to face this friend
You fancy dead.
--ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON.
APPRECIATIVE WORDS FROM TEACHERS AND PUPILS OF BURLINGTON HIGH
SCHOOL, 1920
To live to old age; to keep one's physical health and mental vigor to
the very end; to work at one's chosen task with undiminished enthusiasm;
to know one's self greatly useful and greatly beloved; to go, at last,
swiftly, and to be mourned by many friends;--what could one ask, of all
the gifts of life, better than that?
The impression left by Mr. Putney is that of a singularly serene and
happy old age. And surely, if ever a man had reason to look upon his
life with serenity and quiet satisfaction, Mr. Putney had reason to do
so.
It is a touching and also an inspiring thought, how the successive
generations of young boys and girls passed through his life, each one
receiving something of the rich gift which Mr. Putney had to share with
all, but then too, each returning something of the fresh outlook and
untarnished faith of youth to keep his old age green.
Mr. Putney lived long but never grew old. Perhaps because of his very
association with the young, he tasted the fountain of perpetual youth.
How valuable and how prized was the gift which he imparted, is best
known to those who best knew the man himself. No pupil of his seems to
think of him primarily as a teacher, but as a wise and kindly friend,
whom to know was, somehow, to become one's self wiser and of a more
human spirit.
And yet he was a superb teacher.
It is simply that this phase of him is lost in the totality of the man.
One thinks instinctively of a phrase of Cicero's--Cicero whose orations
Mr. Putney taught for so many years--"Vir amplissimus." It means
something much more, something quite other than simply "Great man." It
means one adequate for the occasion, whatever that occasion might be.
That is the final verdict to be pronounced, as it is the highest praise
to be bestowed. From whatever angle Mr. Putney was regarded, and to
whatever test he was brought, he measured up; he sufficed.