Charles W. Gilchrist received degrees from Williams College

Williams College

Williams College is a private liberal arts college located in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim Williams. Originally a men's college, Williams became co-educational in 1970. Fraternities were also phased out during this...

 magna cum laude in 1958 and Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School

Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...

 in 1961 and was admitted into the Maryland Bar in 1962. He was active in many civic and political organizations, including the D.C. Bar Association and the Democratic Central Committee, and served as a Maryland state senator. In 1978 he was elected as County Executive after the retirement of James P. Gleason

James P. Gleason

James P. Gleason was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1921 and received a law degree from Georgetown University in 1950. He served as a legislative assistant to Senator Richard Nixon, administrative assistant to Senator Knowland, consultant to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the U.S...

.. He died on June 24, 1999 of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...

 at Johns Hopkins Hospital

Johns Hopkins Hospital

The Johns Hopkins Hospital is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland . It was founded using money from a bequest by philanthropist Johns Hopkins...

 in Baltimore, Maryland.

Tenure as Montgomery County Executive

Gilchrist took office in 1978 after defeating his Republican opponent, Richmond M. Keeney with a margin of more than 3 to 2 and thus became the first Democrat to be elected county executive in Montgomery.

Gilchrist's administration was marked by housing problems and a sewer moratorium, pressure to control spending, a reorganization of County government to make it more centralized, and controversies over appointments. He was able to hold property tax raises to the level of or below inflation, and survive questions over his appointments, some of which led to the "Liquorgate" scandal, which he also survived. He was able to expand social services while holding down the size of government, and oversaw the opening of the Ride-On bus system, the Laytonsville landfill, and the incinerator at Dickerson, which had been planned during the Gleason administration.

In 1984 he announced his retirement after the 1986 election to devote his life to the Episcopal priesthood. Sidney Kramer

Sidney Kramer

Born on July 8, 1925, in Washington, D.C., Sidney Kramer graduated from Calvin Coolidge High School in 1944 and entered George Washington University where he obtained baccalaureate degrees in physics and chemistry. In 1957, he became the owner and operator of Automatic Car Washes. When he moved to...

, the candidate whom he supported to succeed him, won over his opponent by a 7 to 4 margin despite being relatively unknown.

In memoriam

The Gilchrist Center for Cultural Diversity in Wheaton, Maryland

Wheaton, Maryland

Wheaton is an unincorporated, urbanized area in Montgomery County, Maryland, USA, north of Washington, D.C., northwest of Silver Spring. Wheaton takes its name from Frank Wheaton , a career officer in the United States Army and volunteer from Rhode Island in the Union Army who rose to the rank of...

 is named after him. Opened on September 8, 2001, the center provides services to an increasing immigrant population in Montgomery County. On April 21, 2006, the Montgomery County Campus of Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

renamed the main building in honor of Gilchrist citing his role in the creation of the Shady Grove Life Sciences Center where the campus is located.

In 1990, as the associate pastor of St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, Rev. Charles Gilchrist started "Desayuno y Dialouge", a breakfast program for the homeless and poor in the Washington, DC neighborhoods of Dupont Circle, Adams Morgan, Columbia Heights and Mount Pleasant. The program was renamed Charlie's Place in 1999 to honor his hard work and commitment to the poor. Charlie's Place continues today, serving breakfast 4 days a week and providing a myriad of add