Charles K. (Charles Kellogg) Ober

Born in Beverly, Massachusetts, in 1856, Charles Kellogg Ober began working as a bootcutter and later went to sea as a cod fisherman. According to the University of Minnesota's Kautz Family YMCA Archives, surviving eight days adrift off the Newfoundland coast led him to devote himself to Christian work.

Ober went on to play a significant role in YMCA student work. Archival records describe his papers as documenting his involvement in the student movement of the YMCA, especially in the late 19th century, and Williams College holds correspondence from his student years in the early 1880s.

He also wrote practical and devotional books, including Personal Work: How Organized and Accomplished and Out of the Fog: A Story of the Sea. His writing reflects the same direct, earnest spirit that marked his work as a religious organizer and mentor.