Dr. Charles Sherman Gleason -- moving force behind establishment of the Y facility, long-time pediatrician who, for many Wareham families, took care of three generations of babies, decades-long member of the Board of Health, and dedicated citizen passed away Friday evening, just hours after enjoying a YMCA lunch event in Westport.

Dr. Gleason leaves behind his wife, Dr. Elizabeth "Betty" Gleason, five children, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

Members of the community are now remembering the man who gave so much to so many.

Hundreds of community members, family, and friends gathered at the Gleason Family YMCA Tuesday for a celebration of Dr. Gleason's life. Dr. Gleason conceived and brought to life the Wareham Y after seeing the impact a YMCA had on the small town of Boothbay, Maine, where he and his wife own a second home.

In welcoming the crowd to the memorial, YMCA Southcoast president and CEO Gary Schuyler shared a story about what he called Dr. Gleason's "boundless energy".

In 2001, the two traveled to Detroit for a meeting with the Kresge Foundation regarding funding that would help make Dr. Gleason's dream - a YMCA for Wareham - come true. Because of their schedules, both wanted to complete the trip in a day, so they started the trek at 4 a.m., Schuyler said. On the way back home at around 8 p.m., Schuyler recalled Dr. Gleason looking "fresh as a daisy" as he grew tired himself. Dr. Gleason was 81 at the time.

Noting that he began working with the doctor in 1999 when Dr. Gleason was 78, Schuyler told the gathering: "For all of us under the age of 78, we still have plenty of time left to do something really, really big."

Despite his accomplishment of having made possible the Gleason Family Y and contributing his time, energy, and resources to its expansion, Dr. Gleason was always thinking of the next step. The Monday before he passed away, Gleason Family YMCA executive director Laura Prisco was sitting next to Dr. Gleason at a strategic planning session. He leaned over and said: "You know, you have to think of building those tennis courts across the street."

Prisco credits Dr. Gleason with giving the area's youth a safe place to spend time

"It's just been amazing how many teens, from ages 10 to 17, are here in the after-school hours," Prisco said early this week. She noted that the last middle school dance the facility held attracted about 250 students. "They're here until 10:00 at night, and you walk around and look at the number of kids in here, and you think, 'Where would these kids be on a Saturday night in Wareham if the YMCA wasn't here?'"

At the memorial, family members of all generations - each donning a bow tie, Dr. Gleason's trademark attire - shared anecdotes.

His grandchild, Andrew Mun-Wei So, remembered how Dr. Gleason taught his grandchildren how to pick "only the best blueberries" and, an avid sailor, took them on sailing expeditions.

So pointed out that Dr. Gleason was technologically savvy - he had an iPad and a profile on Facebook. He even "met" his great-grandchild, Branden - So's and his wife, Stephanie's son - via online video chat because the family lives in New York City. He was to have met the newborn in person last weekend, the day after he passed away.

Dr. Gleason's oldest son, William, pointed out that his father loved to document life, including the many trips with his family to their second home in Maine and other places across the globe, with his camera.

"This is his camera," William said, pulling out one of the late doctor's cameras. "Wipe off those tears and smile," he instructed the crowd, snapping pictures as family members gathered in the front in the room pulled out their own cameras and did the same.

"Sherm Gleason's life made a difference for many of us, for this community," said Manfred Wiegandt, Dr. Gleason's son-in-law and a Wareham attorney. "He was very generous when it came to spending money for education and charitable causes."

Never wanting to sit idle, Dr. Gleason was "always busy, working, gardening, tinkering, going to meetings," Wiegandt said.

Dr. Gleason, a graduate of Harvard College and Tufts University Medical School, was the sole pediatrician in Wareham and the surrounding area for many years. He and Betty, a general practitioner, operated a medical practice out of their home. He retired in 2004 at the age of 84.

At the memorial, family friend Hannah Moore recalled how Dr. Gleason frequently came to her mother's aid while she and her siblings were growing up. The family lived on Goat Island in the Marion Harbor.

One cold March night in the 1950s, Moore's sister came down with a fever. Dr. Gleason traveled to the island to treat the child. In the darkness, he had to use a light on one of his pieces of medical equipment to help locate the shoreline.

"That was Dr. Gleason," Moore said. "He was all about somebody else."

That wasn't the only time Dr. Gleason crossed water to help his young patients. From the 1950s until the late 1990s, he flew to Nantucket twice yearly to treat children and perform check-ups because there was no pediatrician on the island. He'd treat more than 150 children during his two-day stays, his family said.

“He just had a passion for humanity, for children, and for the environment," Wareham native Claire Smith said in a phone call. Her three children were treated by Dr. Gleason.

Smith, who currently serves as Town Moderator and has attended Town Meetings for years, says Dr. Gleason was well-respected within the community.

“When Dr. Gleason stood to speak, you listened," Smith recalled, adding that Dr. Gleason and his wife rarely missed meetings. "He didn't speak a lot, but what he had to say was very thought-provoking.”

Dr. Gleason was involved with the Wareham Land Trust since it was founded in 2001. He donated land and was serving on its board at the time of his death.

"He had such a strong sense of fairness and justice," Land Trust founder Mary McFadden told the attendees of Dr. Gleason's memorial. "When he saw something that needed to be done ... he didn't sit by and wait" for someone else to do it.

Wareham Health Agent Robert Ethier worked with Dr. Gleason during some of the doctor's many years on the Board of Health.

“We all knew him as a wonderful and gracious man whose generosity benefited the Town of Wareham and its residents,” said Ethier. “His experience and dedication to the Board [of Health] will be missed by all members and the staff."

Ethier said he still remembers what Dr. Gleason told him when he began his work with the town eight years ago.

"[Dr. Gleason] said, 'We're here most of all to help people, and we must never forget that.' And I haven't,” Ethier said, noting that the Board frequently references that when dealing with difficult cases. "It was my pleasure working for him. He was a great man.”

Perhaps Dr. Gleason's 17-year-old granddaughter, Carmen Wiegandt, said it best.

"Those of you who saw or experienced just how much my grandpa cared will know that he made this world more beautiful in many ways."