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Mantoloking Yacht Club
Runyon
"Runnie" Colie
Jr.
May 22, 1916 - June 26, 2014
Mantoloking,
NJ
Runyon Colie Jr., age 98, passed
away peacefully on June 26 at home, with his family by his side. Runnie, the oldest of 4 children, was born in New
York City in 1916 to Louise Huntington Edgar and Runyon Colie. He was married to Lois Elizabeth
"Betsy" Allen Colie for 65 years.
Betsy pre-deceased him in December, 2013.
Raised in South Orange, NJ, Runnie
grew up sailing on Barnegat Bay out of Mantoloking Yacht Club, where
his parents first met. His mother, herself a champion sailor,
taught him to sail at an early age. He won his first Barnegat
Bay Yacht Racing Association (BBYRA) Championship in 1934 in his Sneakbox, Doon.
A life-long competitive sailor, Runnie
was inducted the inaugural class of the ICSA Collegiate Sailing
Hall of Fame, the Barnegat Bay Sailing Hall of Fame in 2004, and the
National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2013, the first amateur sailor to be
so honored. In 1989, Runnie was recipient
of the W. Van Alan Clark Jr trophy, presented annually by the United
States Yacht Racing Union to the American (USYRU) sailor who best
exemplifies the ideal and tradition of good sportsmanship. He was
selected as the Olympic 5.5 Meter Alternate in 1960 and also won the
O. G. Dale Memorial Trophy twice in recognition of his
"Outstanding Sportsmanship in the Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Association."
Runnie attended both Dartmouth College and MIT, earning a
degree in naval architecture. While sailing for MIT, Colie won an unprecedented three Collegiate
National Championships. After graduation, he served as a
lieutenant commander in the Navy for five years during WWII.
For the majority of his life Colie
was employed by the William H. Clausen Company as a salesman.
Following the war he competed in the International Penguin Class
Dinghy, winning seven international titles, five of them with Betsy
crewing. The boat he most enjoyed racing was the E-Scow, winning the
Eastern Championships seven times and becoming the first easterner to
win the National Championship, in 1966. Colie
narrowly missed an eighth Eastern championship at age 78. He was also
an original member of the Bilgeboarders
Organization, which he held dear to his heart. In his later years, Runnie worked hard to support and mentor young
sailors everywhere. He helped found and run the Carl Van Duyne Advanced Racing Clinic. When he wasn't
racing, Colie was also a USYRU judge.
Always competitive, Colie was
on his high school ice hockey team and played lacrosse for MIT.
In addition to sailing, Runnie loved
learning, reading, and a good game of poker. He was a great story
teller, recounting events with astonishing accuracy. He will be
missed by all who knew him.
He is survived by his children Dev Colie
(Ferndale, MI), Lea Colie Wight and husband
Richard (Manasquan, NJ), Ann Colie Lewis
and husband Steven (West Suffield, CT), Henry Butler Allen Colie and wife Barbara (Summit, NJ), and daughter
in law Stephanie Carr Colie (Roscommon,
MI), grandchildren Richard Colie,
Stuart Colie, Nathan Wight, David Wight,
Jackie Lewis Calvo, Tara Wight, Shane
Lewis, Runyon Lewis and great grandchildren Kaylee
Ann Wight and Robert Runyon Calvo. Runnie is also survived by his brother,
Christopher West Colie, and is pre-deceased
by his sister Louise Colie Perry and
brother Stuart Edgar Colie.
A memorial service will be held at St. Simons By-The-Sea,
Mantoloking NJ on August 3rd at 12 noon. The reception and
celebration of his life will follow immediately at Mantoloking Yacht
Club.
In lieu of flowers, the family suggests a gift to
"Save Barnegat Bay."
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