Tribute
Besides work Pierre was very active in the associative life at CERN and has been much involved in several clubs such as the Ski, Orienteering and Squash clubs.
He joined the CERN ski club in 1998 and within the year become one of the instructors in the cross-country section. Besides being an accomplished sportsman (and one-time French track cycling champion), he was an enthusiastic teacher who loved to share his passion for the sport. Many of the current club members, including instructors and their families, learned to ski with him. He invested lots of time and effort not only on the snow, but also to keep the club running - he was member of the club committee and led the cross-country section twice, for a total of 9 years.
For more than 20 years (since 1994) Pierre has been active in the Orienteering club both as a participating member and as an organizer, part of the driving team of the club. He has organized numerous events, small local ones as well as major international ones. The latest local event of the club in November last year was in fact organized by Pierre.
Everything seemed possible and easy for him – “impossible” did not exist on his vocabulary - and his voluntary attitude and his energy and enthusiasm have been crucial and invaluable assets for the club. He has also inspired and encouraged young and old and has much contributed to making the activity of the club and the sport so well-known and appreciated.
Being a very talented communicator he has during all these years been the spokesman of the club. In this way the entire orienteering community of the region and far beyond knows Pierre and his weekly messages during all these years have been much appreciated. He always found the right informative and cheerful tone.
Likewise, his message to the ski club were always appreciated - before an outing, he'd whet the appetite with descriptions of snow and sunshine, afterwards he'd often send around quotes and photos in order for the participants to commit the day firmly to memory.
This is why so many wish to accompany Pierre on his last trip and in the name of all of us who have benefited from his energy, driving force and positive attitude I would like to say “Thank you Pierre – you have done a great job!!”
CERN Ski Club and CERN Orienteering Club
It was with immense sadness and a collective sense of shock that the members of the CERN squash club learnt this week of Pierre Charrue’s death.
He ran the CERN squash club since mid-2004, and was single-handedly responsible for tripling the number of players in the CERN leagues. He managed the club brilliantly - with discretion, dedication, unbelievable efficiency and humour.
Today’s 94 active players (and literally hundreds of past members) from CERN and across Geneva have had their lives substantially enriched by his willingness to give of himself, to organise them into a league in order to regularly play the sport they love - often forging great friendships in the process. He promoted and relegated us, arranged our payments, paid our subscriptions, forgave us when we were late, negotiated our discounts and arranged an impressive quota of slots for membership of the Maisonnex club.
Of course we took him for granted in this role, as one invariably does when administration is fast and efficient – but we all owe him a great debt, and the Maisonnex changing room was a sad and silent place over the last few days as those in the club struggled to come to terms with the news.
We will miss him on many levels, and our thoughts in these difficult days are with his loved ones.
The CERN squash club
