<div>
A FITTINGLY BEAUTIFUL SERVICE in the Cadet Chapel which he so dearly loved marked finis to a remarkable career, remarkable even in a fellowship dedicated to remarkable careers.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<em>Chauncey Lee Fenton</em> was born in Edinburgh, Pa., son of George and Rebecca Fenton. He attended grade and secondary schools in Lowellville, Ohio, and went on to win the competitive examination for the congressional appointment to the Military Academy from his district, an augury of things to come. Entering the Class of 1904 in June of 1900, he was a cadet during the West Point Centennial in 1902. Oddly enough, 50<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>years later he was to be Chairman of the Sesquicentennial Steering Committee and Grand Marshal of the Jubilee Convocation.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Graduating 15th in a class of 124, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Artillery Corps. Two years of battery assignments followed, including six months in the Philippines. Lieutenant Fenton was then sent to West Point for service as an instructor in the Department of Mathematics. This tour lasted from August 1906 to August 1910, an assignment which unquestionably was basic in shaping his whole subsequent career.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It was during his first tour at West Point that he met and married Marguerite W. Hawley (in Bridgeport, Conn., 23 December 1909). For the next 52 years she was to be his beloved partner and gracious hostess. A remarkable person in her own right, she made the Fenton home a center of hospitality, and became a much loved example of the ideal Service wife for generation after generation of young instructors’ wives.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Leaving the Academy in 1910, Chauncey Fenton served a variety of battery officer details, had a year as PMS&T at Texas A&M College and was promoted to captain. He commanded a battery at Fort Totten for two years. He then attended the Coast Artillery School, and remained there as an instructor until the spring of 1917. During this period he was selected for the unique assignment of going on a special mission to Europe to assist the embassies in Germany and the Low Countries in evacuating American nationals at the start of World War I. No official record of this trip is available to the writer, but General Fenton himself often spoke of it in his later years, stating among other things that it required his group to cany constantly with them $1,000,000 in US currency.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The following quote from an article by Colonel William J. Morton in the July 1946 <em>ASSEMBLY</em> may help to fashion some substance around the foregoing skeleton of factual material:</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"The bare record of this period does little to convey the solid reputation that Colonel Fenton was building up with his associates and superiors. He had, however, demonstrated his fitness for higher responsibility. One of the officers whom he had most impressed was William R. Smith, destined to become Major Ceneral and Superintendent of the Military Academy. Years later, General Smith told the writer that he considered Colonel Fenton the finest junior officer who had ever served under him, and that one of his greatest accomplishments for the Military Academy was his success in securing Colonel Fenton’s appointment as professor."</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
During World War I General Fenton rose to the grade of colonel. He was detailed to the General Staff Corps on our entrance into the war, and served on the staff of Major General Hugh L. Scott, participating in the Cambrai operation with the British 61st Division. Later he became Chief of Artillery of the Second Army, AEF, participating in the Aisne-Marne, St. Mihiel, Meuse-Argonne, and Somme offensive operations. After the Armistice he was assigned to the Operations Division (Personnel) of the War Department General Staff from January 1919 to August 1922. His performance in this detail won him the Distinguished Service Medal, with citation:</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
“For exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services as chief of a section of the General Staff during the period of demobilization and reorganization of the Army. He has rendered conspicuous service in the solution of intricate and important problems pertaining to the scientific utilization of the commissioned personnel of the Army.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Following his tour on the General Staff, he spent a year in study at the Army War College. In August 1929, after an interim at Fort Monroe, he returned to West Point for three years as Associate Professor of Mathematics. Next came a year at the Command and General Staff College during which he was promoted to lieutenant colonel, CAC.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The stage was now set for the second phase of General Fenton’s career. While he was at Fort Leavenworth, Major General William R. Smith had become Superintendent of the Military Academy. At General Smith’s urging, Chauncey Lee Fenton accepted the Professorship of Chemistry and Electricity, succeeding the late Wirt Robinson in that chair in October of 1928. Lieutenant Colonel Fenton was admirably suited for the position. His two tours in the Mathematics Department had thoroughly familiarized him with the West Point system of education. His vigor, force, and native intelligence were qualities that were to be utilized to the fullest in the nearly 15 years he would guide the Department of Chemistry and Electricity. He set about with characteristic energy to improve the instruction and to modernize the equipment of the Department. He himself entered a program of advanced studies at Columbia University to give himself a proper perspective for initiating changes in the curriculum of his Department, and for reorganizing the laboratory equipment and procedures. He travelled widely in the world of engineering education, making many friends among engineering school faculties and observing modern methods of teaching science.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
During his incumbency he had an up-to-date electrical engineering power laboratory constructed in the basement of the East Academic Building. With the adoption of new and widely used texts in chemistry and in electrical engineering he improved greatly the subject matter of his courses. During World War II, foreseeing the need for far more instruction in electronics and communications than had been possible in the prewar curriculum, he arranged for the construction of a completely modern electronics laboratory in the old electro-physics laboratory. He had a small radar laboratory installed, and equipped the Chemistry and Electricity Lecture Room with the latest kinds of facilities for presenting demonstration lectures in both subjects.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Valuable as Colonel Fenton’s contributions were to his own Department, they become dwarfed in comparison with the role he played in the larger affairs of the Academy, both through his membership on the Academic Board and its committees, and by virtue of the fact that his advice was sought by all the superintendents under whom he served. During the trying period of World War II, Colonel Fenton served on the committees that devised the three-year wartime curriculum and the modern post-war course of study. His voice in these councils was largely responsible for holding the reduction in the World War II course to one year. Only those who, like the writer, were the victims of the chaotic situation at West Point in World War I, can appreciate what a vast improvement the handling of the World War II<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>course represented. In 1944, when Colonel Fenton reached statutory retirement age, the Superintendent persuaded the War Department to recall him immediately to active duty for the duration. In 1946 he was awarded the Legion of Merit. The citation for this decoration indicates the nature of his contribution to his Alma Mater during World War II. It reads:</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
"Colonel Chauncey L. Fenton, 01895, Army of the United States, administered with rare judgment and exceptional ability the Department of Chemistry and Electricity, United States Military Academy, during the period 12 January 1942 to 4 September 1945. Every challenge presented by many complex and unusual situations within his department during the critical period of the war emergency was effectively met with initiative and wisdom. Colonel Fenton’s able administration of the department, selection and training of instructors and development of laboratories kept the Chemistry and Electricity courses abreast of technical and military developments and maintained high standards of cadet instruction. As a senior member of the Academic Board and as Chairman, or member of many important Boards and Committees, Colonel Fenton was a guiding factor in the successful solution of many new and trying problems forced upon the Academy by the impact of war. His persevering devotion to duty and record of achievement reflect the highest credit upon himself and the Military Service."</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In 1946 Colonel Fenton was again retired, this time for physical disability. Two years later he was advanced on the retired list to the grade of brigadier general. He and Mrs. Fenton settled in Cornwall-on-Hudson where one might have expected him, at the age of 66, to enjoy some hard-earned leisure. Instead he embarked upon a third career, this time in civilian clothes.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In 1933 the then Colonel Fenton, who had been instrumental in reorganizing the First National Bank in Highland Falls so as to bring it safely through the bank holiday of the great depression, became president and a director of the bank. This position he held until his death. Under his leadership the bank prospered, extending its business Army-wide. He built up the bank’s reputation for strength and security both locally and throughout the Service.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In 1946 General Fenton added to his responsibilities the presidency of the West Point Alumni Foundation, which publishes <em>ASSEMBLY</em> and the annual <em>Register of Graduates</em>. In 1947 he was elected president of the Association of Graduates, holding that office for eight years, the longest incumbency in the history of the Association.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
General Fenton’s accomplishments as head of the Association of Graduates are too many to recount. Suffice it to say that he personally was largely responsible for building the Endowment Fund of the Association from $110,000 when he became president to $657,000 in 1962; for increasing the number of West Point Societies from 10 in 1947 to 53<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>by June 1961; for clarifying the mission of the Association and establishing its tax-free status; and for establishing a logical understanding of the relationships among the Military Academy, the Association, and the Societies.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It was during General Fenton’s term of office that the West Point Sesquicentennial was celebrated. As early as 1948 the Superintendent, then Major General Maxwell D. Taylor, appointed General Fenton Chairman of the Sesquicentennial Steering Committee. More than any other single individual he was responsible for the policy planning of the Sesquicentennial Celebration. Throughout the deliberations of the Steering Committee, which lasted over a period of five years and 60 formal meetings, his sound judgment, his inherent sense of fitness, his enthusiasm, and his refusal to be turned aside by a variety of unforeseen and formidable obstacles played a major role in the success of the Sesquicentennial Celebration during the first six months of 1952. During this same period, General Fenton suggested and planned the preparation of “Men of West Point,” authored by Colonel R. Ernest Dupuy, a book which is one of the lasting monuments of the 150th Anniversary of the Military Academy. It was particularly fitting that General Fenton was chosen to act as Grand Marshal at the Sesquicentennial Jubilee Convocation.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It was likewise during General Fenton’s term of office as president of the Association that he established the contacts and gave the guidance that resulted in the bequest to the Association in 1961 of $1,000,000 by the late Mrs. Palmer E. Pierce in memory of her husband. This generous bequest is being used to expand the West Point Army Mess. Upon completion of his service as president in 1955 he was formally elected by his colleagues permanent Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Association of Graduates, and a resolution of appreciation of his outstanding services was unanimously adopted by the members of the Association at its annual meeting on 6 June 1955.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
At the time of General Fenton’s retirement from the presidency of the Association of Graduates, he was hospitalized for major surgery of the most serious kind. A less vital man would have chosen this crisis as the opportunity to divest himself of all further responsibility. This Chauncey Fenton did not see fit to do. He kept most of his positions: the presidency of his bank, the presidency of the West Point Alumni Foundation, and the chairmanship of the Fund Raising Committee of the Association of Graduates. He served three terms as president of the Lake Placid Club. He also continued his memberships in the Rotary Club of Newburgh and in the Century Club in New York City, in both of which he had long been active. His interest in all that went on at West Point continued to be as lively as ever, and he and Mrs. Fenton were familiar and welcome figures on the Post at both official and social functions.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Perhaps the best way to characterize the third, or post-retirement, phase of General Fenton’s career is by the term “elder statesman.” Even during the second phase of his career, his professor stage, he had known well the superintendents under whom he served, starting with Major General William R. Smith. His advice and counsel had been sought by all of them, and he had gained a widespread reputation for frankness, integrity, and good judgment. It was therefore not unnatural that the post-war superintendents should seek his advice on all sorts of questions. Of course, while he was President of the Association he was in a strategic position to be helpful; but even after he withdrew from that position he continued to be consulted on important matters.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
What manner of man was this, who distinguished himself as soldier, professor, and businessman-elder statesman? Chauncey Fenton possessed almost unlimited energy. Of athletic build, and soldierly bearing, he was a keen competitor, whether at tennis, golf, or at the bridge table. He was always meticulously groomed, whether uniformed or in mufti. His interest in athletics was reflected in many years of duty on the Athletic Board of the Academy. His classmates always thought of him as a man of action, and once started on a project he was tenacious in carrying it to completion. Frank at times to the point of bluntness in his earlier years, he could easily have become a martinet had not age and experience mellowed him and given him polish. His great love of West Point was a compelling force in all his affairs. He was deeply religious and a familiar figure in the Cadet Chapel, in which he took an active interest. He had two of the great virtues of the soldier: the ability to get things done, and complete integrity. He was in fact the embodiment of Horace’s “integer vitae,” the upright man, who walks unafraid his appointed path, at peace with the world because he is at peace within himself.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
It is an interesting commentary upon Chauncey Fenton’s character that in the 16 years following his retirement he never once made an unsolicited suggestion to his successor in the Department of Electricity about how the affairs of the Department should be run. When one considers his forthrightness, this is a remarkable record of forbearance.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
General Fenton is survived by his wife, and by three children: Mrs. Katherine F. Greene, the wife of Colonel A. A. Greene, USA-Ret., Class of 1931; John Lee Fenton of New York; and Donald C. Fenton of Denver.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Chauncey Fenton was known and respected by graduates of the Military Academy of all ages and throughout the world. His circle of friends and admirers in the civilian community was extensive. His good works were many. His example was inspiring. He will be sorely missed. His friend, Brigadier General Earl McFarland, furnishes these words of Dr. Gorrden Link as an appropriate requiem: “And one friend more who stands apart a little</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Raises a silver horn and splits the sky</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
With the purest sound that armies have devised—</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
The sound of Taps to send their comrade home.”</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<em>-B.W.B.</em></div>