Charlie Stamm, retired teacher and longtime wrestling coach at Cheltenham High School, has died at 75

Charlie Stamm, 75, formerly of Cheltenham, retired social studies teacher, longtime wrestling and golf coach, mentor, and innovative student activities sponsor at Cheltenham High School, died Monday, June 3, of cancer at Bethesda Hospital East in Boynton Beach, Fla.

Mr. Stamm was a groundbreaker over his 33 years at Cheltenham. From 1974 to his retirement in 2007, he secured $60,000 in funding for a state-of-the-art TV studio at the high school, developed a popular TV production curriculum in 1996, coached wrestling and golf teams for more than two decades, and addressed important educational issues as president of the Cheltenham Educators’ Association.

He taught 11th-grade social studies, applied economics, and special education classes, and oversaw the school’s media club and student council for more than a decade. As executive producer and student staff adviser for the school’s TV channel 42, he created, filmed, and edited reams of content, and the school named its five-room production suite the Charlie Stamm Studio after he retired.

“He was the epitome of a good guy, a man of character and leadership,” a former student said in a Facebook tribute. Another former student said: “The work I did 20 years ago for Channel 42 … gave me a sense of purpose when I felt rudderless, confidence when I felt invisible. That was an invaluable gift.”

As a coach, Mr. Stamm worked with hundreds of wrestlers and golfers in the 1970s, ‘80s, and ‘90s, and told The Inquirer in 1984: “What we’re trying to do here is get the tradition back. Cheltenham has been a wrestling powerhouse for most of the 50 years the school has participated in the sport.”

He sponsored four high school graduating classes and, as president of the educators’ association from 1985 to 1987, negotiated with school district officials over teacher preparation time, classroom budget cuts, playground safety, and other big issues. He was a role model, younger teachers said in online tributes, and he and his wife, Cathy, now retired from teaching English at Cheltenham, assisted struggling students in all kinds of ways.

Some students gathered weekly at their home to watch The West Wing TV show, and they called themselves the West Wing Club. “People who are like that, it’s such a great gift to the district because they don’t look at the clock,” Cheltenham teacher Cindy Goldberg told the Reporter of Lansdale in 2007. “They have dedicated their lives to their profession.”

Mr. Stamm and his wife moved to Boynton Beach after he retired, and he, eager to return to the wrestling mat, worked for a time as an assistant high school coach in Lake Worth. He championed the inclusion of girls in the sport, and a former student said on Facebook: “The true test of being a teacher is being memorable, and I will always remember Mr. Stamm.“

Charles Joseph Stamm was born Feb. 20, 1949. He was delivered by his grandfather in Philadelphia, and he and his older brother, Richard, grew up in Cheltenham.

He was active in student government and on school committees and clubs, and he wrestled, and graduated from Cheltenham in 1967. He played saxophone as a young man and liked to dance and listen to jazz.

He studied at what is now East Stroudsburg University and at Temple University before earning a bachelor’s degree in secondary education at La Salle University in 1974. In 1976, he earned a master’s degree in history at Beaver College, now Arcadia University.

He met fellow student Cathy Zellner at East Stroudsburg, and they married in 1969, and had daughter Heather and son David. They lived in Abington and Cheltenham before moving to Florida after he retired.

Mr. Stamm often took summer jobs in July and August to augment his teacher’s salary, and he told The Inquirer in 1987: “Teaching is the only profession where they lay you off for the summer and call it a vacation.” He said he worked as a waiter, pool manager, landscaper, and ice cream truck driver over the years. But none of those jobs rivaled teaching.

“I look forward with anticipation to returning to school,” he said in 1987. “The excitement is still there, the energy, and interaction with students.”

His daughter said: “He loved his work with a passion. That being said, I know that his most important jobs were to be a husband, father, and grandfather.”

His wife said: “He loved history, wrestling, and children. He was the kindest man I know.”

In addition to his wife, children, and brother, Mr. Stamm is survived by a granddaughter and other relatives.

A celebration of his life is to be held at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, July 28, at Goldsteins’ Rosenberg’s Funeral Directors, 6410 N. Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19126.