Charles F. Carroll (1936–2025)

Charles Francis Carroll died peacefully on March 8, 2025, at the age of 88, after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease.

Charles F. Carroll

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. 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 US Army Reserve.

Charlie dedicated his professional life to public higher education. Charlie taught in the University of Massachusetts Lowell’s history department for 37 years, serving as its chair for 15 years. His areas of expertise included colonial America and the history of technology. He authored The Timber Economy of Puritan New England (Brown Univ. Press, 1974), one of the first books to examine the colonists’ impact on the environment. In a review in the American Historical Review, Robert G. Albion praised the book for branching out “into an original and stimulating discussion of the impact of the forest upon the settlers and then of the settlers upon the forest.” More than a New England story, Charlie’s work traced the timber industry’s ties to Europe and the West Indies. He also wrote many scholarly articles, including “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 (1993).

As a department chair, Charlie was known for protecting his faculty. When a dean called in a junior faculty member and told them to publish more or else, Charlie confronted the administrator face-to-face before the day was done. He reassured and promoted an openly gay faculty member before that was common practice. He always supported the faculty union. The department honors his commitment to others by giving the Charles F. Carroll Award for Excellence in Service to the student who has contributed the most to our community of students, faculty, and staff.

His career culminated with his service as the dean of fine arts, humanities, and social sciences from 2002 through 2009. As dean, Charlie was a pragmatic leader who executed his vision in a collegial and engaging manner. Charlie added dozens of talented faculty and managed the division during a period of substantial growth and generational change. He 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. He also established the first endowed scholarship funds at the division level to serve the ever-growing number of students dependent on aid. Charlie retired with a citation from Governor Deval Patrick honoring his distinctive service to the university over more than four decades.

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 smile, which he held on to until his last days.

Charlie loved the outdoors and gardening, spending his free time working outside, hiking, admiring trees and birds, and traveling to see natural wonders. In his earlier years, he grew a large victory garden with his wife. Later, he was known jokingly for his “House of Lost Plants,” caring for sad little plants through the winter with the hope that they could hold on until spring. Among his successes were the cactus from his daughter’s freshman dorm room, kept alive for 30 years; a carefully tended bonsai tree given to him years ago; decades-old Christmas cacti from his mother; vintage chrysanthemum varietals; and rhododendrons planted with his wife. He also was an avid photographer. His photographs are a testimony to his love of people, nature, and animals.

He is survived by his loving wife of 54 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.