Charles F. Carroll

Charles Francis Carroll, of Harvard, Massachusetts, died peacefully on March 8, 2025, at the age of eighty-eight, after a long battle with Parkinson's disease. In the midst of fighting Parkinson's, he said he wanted to "strike death out of the disease," and he persevered where many may have given up sooner. For those around him, his illness and will to live in the face of adversity challenged conceptions of what it means to live or die, and on whose terms and timelines.

He is survived by his loving wife of fifty-four years, Pauline Carroll; daughter, Christina Carroll; son-in-law, Joshua Rogaczewski; grandson, Patrick Carroll-Rogaczewski; sister-in-law, Carol Wilson; niece Jessica Moore Wilson and her husband, Peter Moore, parents of River Moore; niece Beth Wilson-Lampro and her husband, Erick Lampro, parents of Ryan Wilson and Evelyn Lampro; and many cousins.

Charlie was born on October 5, 1936, to Margaret (Gleason) Carroll, a champion typist originally of Northampton, and Patrick Carroll, an Irish immigrant who worked as a train conductor and plant foreman. Charlie grew up in Somerville, Massachusetts. As a young lad, he enjoyed street hockey and was known for some mischief like playing baseball on the Tufts campus field and jumping the fence to safety. He earned his BA and MA from Boston College and PhD from Brown University in American and European History. As a young graduate, he traveled through Europe with friends and served in the U.S. Army Reserve.

Charlie dedicated his professional life to public higher education. Charlie taught in UMass Lowell's History Department for thirty-seven years, serving as its chair for fifteen years. His areas of expertise included Colonial America and the history of technology. He authored the pioneering work, The Timber Economy of Puritan New England, one of the first books to examine the colonists and their impact on the environment, and many scholarly articles, such as "The Human Impact on the New England Landscape," for the Thoreau Society of Concord's jubilee work, Thoreau's World and Ours: A Natural Legacy. His career culminated by serving as the Dean of the Division of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at UMass Lowell from 2002 through 2009. As dean, Charlie was known as a pragmatic leader who executed his vision in a collegial and engaging manner. Charlie added dozens of talented hires and managed the division during a period of substantial growth and generational change. He also introduced blended learning and new programs, such as the Bachelor of Liberal Arts, a Master's in Sound Recording Technology, and a Certificate in Behavioral Intervention in Autism. There were no division scholarships when he arrived, but through reorganization of the Dean's Advisory Board, fundraising efforts, and donations, he established endowed scholarship funds to serve the ever-growing number of students dependent on aid. Charlie retired with a citation from Governor Deval Patrick honoring his four-plus decades of distinctive service to the university.

Aside from his intellectual and professional pursuits, Charlie was a family man, dedicated to his wife and daughter, and ever proud of his grandson, son-in-law, and nieces. Behind his professorial demeanor was a dry sense of humor, subtle witty comments, and trademark little smile, which he held onto until his last days. He was known for lively conversations debating current events. He rose at 5:00 a.m. each day to work on his lecture notes and complete some of his work in order to faithfully be home on time for his daughter's field hockey home games and after-school homework questions. In the 2000s and 2010s, Charlie traveled to Washington, D.C., dozens of times to spend time with his daughter, play with his grandson, and enjoy the museums and monuments. Charlie also was known to many as a Renaissance man, taking on almost any task himself, from resurfacing his own house foundation to building his own computers. He enjoyed foreign-produced crime thrillers and an eclectic range of music from James Galway to Wynton Marsalis and Chris Botti to Linda Ronstadt and Willie Nelson.

Charlie had a love of the outdoors and gardening, preferring to spend his free time working outside, hiking, admiring trees and birds, and traveling to see natural wonders. He passed on his love and appreciation of nature's simple pleasures and his green thumb to others, including his daughter. In his earlier years, he grew a large victory garden with his wife. Some people foster stray dogs whereas Charlie was known jokingly for his "House of Lost Plants," as he often cared for many sad little plants indoors through the winter, with the hope that they could hold on until spring and be reborn under his careful watch. For Charlie, plants brought not just beauty but also sentimental value: his daughter's freshman dorm room cactus, kept alive thirty years later; a carefully tended bonsai tree gifted years ago; decades-old Christmas cacti from his mother; vintage chrysanthemum varietals from a family trip to Litchfield; and rhododendrons planted with his wife and tended to last a lifetime.

He was an avid photographer, often seen behind a camera whenever there was a new baby, pet, wedding, or vacation. He was a lover of animals, particularly dogs, having a dog by his side for many decades of life.

In sum, Charlie lived a good life through his love for the people and natural beauty around him and his boundless intellectual curiosity about all the world had to offer.

The family wishes to thank Carol Wilson and John Wilson (in spirit); Deaconess Abundant Life of Concord (Margaret, Veda, Edith and Neala); VNA Care (Katie and Carolyn); Father George Roy, O.M.I.; dear neighbors, including Margot and Wade Holtzman who lived next door for over three decades; Rebecca Phillips; the Harvard Council on Aging; and other relatives, friends, and doctors for their faithful and kind assistance during his illness.

In lieu of flowers, a memorial donation may be made to the University of Massachusetts Lowell in support of the Charles Carroll Scholarship Endowment. Donations can be made online at www.uml.edu/givenow or mailed to: UMass Lowell Advancement Office, Hoff Center, 1 Perkins St., Lowell MA 01854. Checks should be made payable to UMass Lowell and note that the gift is in memory of Dr. Charles Carroll.

A Mass of Celebration of Life will be held at Saint Theresa, Little Flower Church, 15 Still River Road, Route 110, Harvard, Massachusetts at 11:00 am on Monday, March 31, 2025.