Charles Alan Garland
Died August 21, 1965
Chuck Garland was born on March 16, 1943 in Pittsburgh, PA and died August 21, 1965, shortly after our graduation. At Yale Chuck was a member of Pierson, was a leader of the Seymour Historical Society, sang in the Freshman Chorus, and was quite active in the Political Union, as parliamentarian leading the Rules Committee, and ultimately heading the Conservative Coalition. He was a member of the Party of the Right, Young Republicans, and the Calliopean Society.
A letter from his father, Alan A. Garland (Y’24) described the circumstances of Chuck’s death: “Ever since graduation in June, Chuck had been employed at the Historical Manuscripts Section of the Yale Library, living in an apartment in New Haven. He was entered at Columbia Law School (in the) fall. Lee Lundy (Y’65), with whom Chuck shared the apartment, and Chuck had gone to a laundromat one Saturday afternoon. Chuck had returned 20 minutes or a half hour before Lee. Lee found Chuck collapsed, with laundry at his feet, and had an ambulance take Chuck to the hospital, but he never recovered. Postmortem examination showed edema of the brain and lungs. Whether caused by virus or some other condition is not known to me at the time of writing.”
John Todd remembers: Chuck was one of my best friends for as long as I can remember. We grew up a block apart and played together most everyday when we were young. We ran in different crowds in high school, but I can still remember from our many conversations his exceptional intelligence and good humor. We both went to Yale, thanks to the persistence of his father, and both went to Pierson as well. Chuck was always interested in political issues and quickly became a pillar of the Party of the Right. By his junior year, he was a mentor to many underclassman (myself included). I can see him striding across the campus in winter, protected only by his scarf and gloves, eager to get to his next class or appointment. He was the reason I became the President of the Yale Political Union. He would have made a wonderful back room politician. I miss his friendship and his wise counsel.
Allen Barringer remembers: At a time when I was an impressionable neophyte, Chuck Garland was an opinionated political theorist, a raconteur, and an outsized ‘character’ in the best sense of the word. He loved Yale and student life and especially the Political Union. I wish he’d fought the emphysema that took him, only weeks after graduation, with nearly as much on-going concern for his own health as he had for reassuring and encouraging others along the College way.