Charles McNeil Liddle III

November 2, 1930 - March 28, 2022

Tebbutt Funeral Home Charles McNeil Liddle III The family of Charles McNeil Liddle III shares the news of his recent passing at the age of 91. Charles “Chuck” Liddle was born in Atlanta, GA in 1930. In 1935 his family moved to Albany, NY, where he graduated from the Albany Academy in 1948. At the Academy, he played varsity basketball and football, won the Math and French awards, was a Captain in the student battalion and the Valedictorian for his class. He went on to study at Dartmouth College where he graduated Cum Laude in 1952 and received a BA in Business Administration from the Tuck School of Business. After graduating from college, he served as a Supply Officer (Lieutenant) in the US Navy from 1952-1954, with time spent on a heavy cruiser and destroyer escort in the Mediterranean and Caribbean. While on shore leave in Venice, he met Nancy Ann Hyatt of Martinsville, IN, a recent graduate of Indiana University and stewardess with American Airlines who was traveling through Italy at the time. Their romance continued and they married each other in 1955 and spent three months honeymooning in Europe on a budget of $100 a week. They settled in Albany where Mr. Liddle joined his father at Austin & Company Insurance Agency. Mr. Liddle had a long career at Austin, becoming President in 1964, Chair in 2000 and retiring in 2008. In the 1970s and 1980s he was active in Insurance Industry affairs at the State and National level. He helped lay the groundwork for standardization, innovation and automation for the insurance industry. For this work he received four IIAA Presidential citations. Mr. Liddle was a frequent speaker on a variety of insurance topics and became an expert and consultant on insurance profit-sharing contracts. Under his leadership Austin and Co. became an employee-owned company and a leader in the insurance of secondary schools. Mr. Liddle was a trusted leader in the community and served on the board of many institutions including: The Albany Academy (Chair 1986-1991,) Historic Albany Foundation (Chair 1982-1985,) Center Square Association, Urban League, Capital District Physicians Health Plan, Albany League of Arts, Washington Park Conservancy, Independent School Chairman’s Association, Egg Center for the Performing Arts, Albany Academy Alumnae Association, the Fort Orange Club (President 1997-1999), and the Community Foundation of the Capital Region. He was a long-time supporter of the Albany Institute of History and Art, which honored he and his late wife Nancy H. Liddle with a lifetime achievement award in 2019. He extended his service and support to other organizations as well, including the Salvation Army, YMCA, Albany Curling Club, Albany County Republican Committee (Treasurer 1963-1964), Albany Urban Culture Park, the United Way, Planned Parenthood, the Berkshire Ballet, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and the Hood Museum of Art. Liddle was an outdoor enthusiast and traveler. He loved to spend time in the Adirondack Mountains, where he had visited and made friends since childhood, and where his father built a house on Friends Lake, N.Y. in 1949. He hiked all 46 high peaks in the Adirondacks, developing many close friendships on his way to becoming a “46er” in 1988. His travels took him to all 50 United States, Canada, the Caribbean, Central America and Mexico, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and New Zealand. His leisure activities included rooting for the NY Yankees and Giants, listening to opera, playing bridge and reading. He was a voracious reader and was a founding member of the “Worms” - a book club started in the 1950s. He enjoyed his later years living at Beverwyck Independent Living, where he had a great community of friends, and was well cared for. He wished to express his gratitude for the compassionate care and warm friendship of his personal aides Rondah Charles-Cato, Jestine Thompson and Tysheema Ligons who helped him so much through his period of declining health. Liddle was predeceased by his wife Nancy Hyatt Liddle and his son Christopher Cain Liddle. He is survived by his son Matthew Hyatt Liddle (wife Nancy S. Liddle) of Sylva, N.C. and daughter Sara Liddle Holloway (husband TJ Holloway) of Underhill, VT and grandchildren Hannah Liddle Kreider (husband Mason Kreider) of Charleston S.C., Jack Hyatt Liddle of Asheville, N.C., and Carson McNeil Holloway of Underhill, VT. Charles M. Liddle III was a generous friend, leader, husband, father, grandfather and community member whose warmth and wit will be missed by all who knew him. Details about a memorial service will be announced at a later date. (Photo by Timothy Raab Northern Photo.)