Williams students, faculty and staff,
I write to mourn the passing of Charles “Charlie” Nathan Hawkins Kerzner, of Sheffield, MA. Charlie originally enrolled at Williams in the fall of 2018 and died on January 26, 2024. The college recently learned of their passing.
At Williams, Charlie served as a JA for the Mills/Dennett 4 entry. They were involved in numerous theatrical projects through the Theatre Department, Studio ’62 and Cap & Bells and worked with local K-6 students through the Hopkins Forest Educators program. Later, during their time away from Williams, Charlie worked as an apprentice and later a cheesemaker at Cricket Creek Farm in South Williamstown.
Friends have shared that Charlie loved music, theater, art and good food. They wrote silly songs, were unbeatable at Bananagrams, and, in their most recent Winter Study, welded a beautiful chicken out of scrap metal. They were planning to re-enroll at Williams and hoped to become a high school English teacher.
Charlie will be missed by all those who knew them on campus, as well as their friends and peers who are now alumni. Students, if you want support while grieving, please reach out to any of the chaplains or staff members in Integrative Wellbeing Services staff or Dean of the College’s office. Or turn to any staff or faculty member with whom you feel close. We all want to help.
For those interested, a memorial is being organized by Charlie’s circle of friends and family, to take place in southern Vermont this June. Our thoughts go out to them, and to all who knew and loved Charlie Kerzner.
Maud