Charles Motter Dingler; Ex-Minor Leaguer

Charles Motter Dingler, son of President Calvin Coolidge’s barber and a former minor league baseball player who coached Dodger outfielder Rick Monday in Little League, died in his Camarillo home. He was 88.

Born in York, Pa., Dingler worked as a Capitol Hill page during the Harding and Coolidge administrations. His father cut Coolidge’s hair, as well as predecessor Warren G. Harding’s.

“They said they liked my grandfather because he was a quiet man and didn’t ask a lot of questions,” said Dingler’s daughter, Diana Dingler of Camarillo.

In the late 1920s, while playing baseball on the beach, Dingler was approached by a scout, who recruited him as an outfielder for a minor league team in Hagerstown, Md. When Dingler moved to Santa Monica in 1942, he kept his hand in the game by coaching Little League teams in Santa Monica.

“He liked to tell about coaching this little kid who grew up to become Rick Monday,” Diana Dingler said.

Dingler’s first job in California was building sets for 20th Century Fox studios during the heyday of Shirley Temple’s film career.

“He told us stories about when they sprayed cornflakes white to make snow,” Diana Dingler said.

Dingler next went to work as a tax representative for the state of California, retiring in 1972. He moved to Camarillo in 1988 to be near his daughter.

In addition his daughter, Diana, Dingler is survived by his wife of 64 years, Thelma, of Camarillo; another daughter, Jan Stebel of Los Angeles; a brother, Roman Dingler of Maryland; a granddaughter, and two great-grandchildren.

Graveside services will be held for the immediate family at noon today. Arrangements are under the direction of Pierce Brothers Griffin Mortuary, Camarillo.

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