Charles V. "Chick" Lord, a Baltimore investment banker who was a trustee, fund-raiser and devoted volunteer for New Song Academy in Sandtown-Winchester, died Thursday. He was 58.
The longtime Roland Park resident took his own life. In recent months, he had been suffering from and was treated for clinical depression.
Until founding C.V. Lord & Associates LLC, an investment firm last year, Mr. Lord had been a managing director of BT Alex. Brown Inc. for 17 years.
Earlier, he had worked for Noxell Corp. in Hunt Valley, where he had been director of corporate development from 1974 to 1982.
He began his business career in 1970 in the research department of Alex. Brown & Sons, where he later became a senior analyst.
"He was an incredibly hard worker who always put his customers' interests first," said Alfred R. Berkeley, NASDAQ vice chairman.
"When I came to Alex. Brown, he adopted me. He stuck out his hand and said, `Let's have some fun.' Gifted with a wry sense of humor, he was a man who brought joy to so many people," said Mr. Berkeley.
A successful and highly respected businessman, Mr. Lord brought that same sense of accomplishment and enthusiasm to his civic interests.
In addition to his work for New Song Academy in Sandtown-Winchester, he was a trustee of the Baltimore Educational Scholarship Trust, which enables needy minority children to attend private secondary schools.
"He was a virtual uncle to the children at New Song Academy and was an advocate for Sandtown-Winchester," said Mayor Martin O'Malley, who first met Mr. Lord during his campaign for mayor last year.
"He gave freely of himself. If we had a couple of hundred more like Chick Lord, we'd be a long way along to solving our problems," he said.
It wasn't uncommon for Mr. Lord to fill his car with students and take them to football games at Gilman School or Orioles games at Camden Yards.
"He was here every week and even on Saturdays," said Susan M. Tibbels, director of New Song Academy on Gilmor Street, which was founded in 1991, and has an enrollment of 87 students. "He was the kind of person, if he saw a need, he filled it. He was a person who truly gave of himself."
Mr. Lord concerned himself with all types of issues at the school. Concerned that students had to cross at a dangerous intersection near the school, he prevailed upon city officials to make it a four-way stop.
