The Toms River South girls soccer team is two wins away from claiming the Group 3 state championship but they face a tough road after winning the South Jersey title last week. 

Toms River South girls soccer team
Toms River South girls soccer team (Kevin Williams, Townsquare Media NJ)
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The Indians meet Central Jersey champion Somerville at 5pm today in what should almost be a home game; the teams will meet at Toms River North.   If South manages to get past the Pioneers then up next would be a likely meeting with Northern Highlands, the top ranked team in the state and the two-time defending Group 3 champions who have won 69 of their last 70 games. They played to a tie earlier this month.

TR South does not have to worry about Northern Highlands yet. The task today is to get past Somerville.

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Colonel Charles Waterhouse, an artist and more who was best known for his works featuring the United States Marine Corps.

Charlies Waterhouse painting
Charlies Waterhouse painting (ocean.nj.us/museums/Waterhouse/collections.htm)
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The 89-year old passed away over the weekend at the Toms River home of his daughter Amy and her husband Gary Lotano.  Many might remember Waterhouse for the museum he operated for several years in downtown Toms River in which he displayed many of his paintings, illustrations and even sculptures. It was a popular destination for area schools and other organizations.  What some might not know is Waterhouse served in the 5th Marine Division and was seriously injured in the battle of Iwo Jima during World War II for which he would receive the Purple Heart.

While nerve damage from that limited use of his left hand it did not affect his painting hand and after the war he studied at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, a place he would later teach at while gaining a national reputation for his illustrations.  Waterhouse would serve three tours in Vietnam as a civilian combat artist and in 1973 at the age of 49 he was returned to active duty as a major when he was called upon to take part in a Bicentennial project.

He would officially retire from the Corps in 1991as a Colonel and later the Marines awarded him the title “USMC Artist in Residence." He was the first and remains the only person to earn that title.   Most of his work was donated to the Marine Corps after the museum closed but even in his final years he continued to paint.  There will be no public service for the Colonel who was a true gentleman and till the very end a proud Marine.

 

 

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