Charles E. Gallagher ’49
Back from the front lines, Sgt. Charles E. (“Chick”) Gallagher, a decorated World War II combat photographer, landed at Princeton the same way he hit the beaches at Anzio and entered Rome with the first U.S. troops — with derring-do, wind at his back, Speed Graphic camera in hand.
Chick founded Princeton Photo Service in time to start chronicling the return of varsity football and Triangle Club to campus after the war, the revival of house parties and Reunions, arrivals of Truman, Eisenhower, Eleanor Roosevelt, Frank Lloyd Wright, the Archbishop of Canterbury . . .
High-spirited, full of life, Chick was the genuine article, the model for Cyrano, D’Artagnan, and Zorba the Greek all together.
After 2 ½ years at Princeton, Chick left academia and went on to produce award-winning documentary films. With his wife, Stephanie, Chick pioneered experiential education. The couple formed the Oceanics Schools in the 1970s, offering students a semester of work/study onboard large square-rigged sailing ships.
In recent years, Chick was EVP of a company dedicated to capturing some of the $40 billion-a-year foreign-dominated cruise industry for America (americanflagship.com).
Chick died April 14, 2013, in Cold Spring, N.Y. He is survived by Stephanie, his wife of 46 years, and their children, Blakeney, Megan, and Peter.
Paw in print
November 2025
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Bonnie Gallagher
3 Years AgoCharles E. Gallagher, Jr.
Chick Gallagher was preceded in death by his eldest son, Charles E. “Chip” Gallagher Jr. (killed by a drunken driver, Dec. 22, 1989). Chip was truly a “Chip off the ole block,” as Chick would fondly refer to his talented son, who possessed the exceptional talents of his father (and mother, Margaret Richardson White).