By Rebecca Goodman
Enquirer staff writer

BLUE ASH - Charles W. Proctor became mayor of Blue Ash at a critical time.

With the town in need of new leadership, he ran in 1969 on a ticket that was called the "clean-sweep ticket," said his son-in-law, Danny Frank of Blue Ash.

"Blue Ash was kind of on the brink of being a little cow town," Frank said. "The politics were really in upheaval."

Mr. Proctor received the most votes and began his two terms as mayor.

"It was a turning point in the city of Blue Ash," his son-in-law said. "Charlie provided political leadership at a time when there were issues in the city."

City Manager Marvin Thompson, who worked with Mr. Proctor, credited him with stabilizing Blue Ash politics and kicking off an era of prosperity and growth.

Mr. Proctor, who also served as a councilman from 1975 until 1993, died Sunday of pneumonia at his home here. He was 83.

He was a Christian with a strong sense of civic duty.

Born in Quail, Ky., near Mount Vernon, in 1922, he grew up in Carthage and graduated from the high school there.

He married Sallie Marie Hobbs in Cincinnati on July 2, 1943, and enlisted in the Army.

"Charlie was a very religious man," said another son-in-law, Jerry Juenger of Blue Ash. "He didn't want to carry a gun because he knew he could never shoot anybody, so he signed up for the medical corps."

Mr. Proctor's battalion followed Gen. George S. Patton to the Battle of the Bulge, according to Juenger.

Mr. Proctor was among the first medical units to go into Dachau concentration camp, north of Munich, to aid the survivors in April 1945.

After the war, Mr. Proctor received a degree in chemical engineering from Xavier University on the G.I. Bill and went to work for the Reading Chemical Co. He later worked as a chemical engineer for General Electric for 34 years.

In 1973 the company sent him to Tehran, Iran, for 60 days to help the government there set up a jet-engine training facility.

Mr. Proctor served on the Sycamore School Board for 12 years and was an elder at Northeast Church of Christ for 26 years.

Survivors include his wife of 61 years; three daughters, Patty Hunt of Nashville, Tenn., and Debbie Frank and Sandy Juenger, both of Blue Ash; a brother, Robert, of West Chester; nine grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.

Services have been held. Burial was at Rest Haven Cemetery in Evendale.

Memorials: Alzheimer's Association of Greater Cincinnati, 644 Linn St., Suite 1026, Cincinnati 45203-1742.

E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com