Charles V. McFarland, a longtime Catonsville attorney and community activist, died Aug. 8 at Fairhaven retirement community in Sykesville of a heart attack on his 86th birthday.
The son of the Rev. Stanley McFarland, a Methodist minister, and Edna McFarland, a schoolteacher, Charles Victor McFarland was born in Paw Paw, W.Va., and moved with his family in 1936 to Hancock.
In the 1930s he and his family moved to Randallstown, and in 1949 he graduated from Catonsville High School.
He met and fell in love with Joan Liebno at a Randallstown Junior High School dance. The two were married in 1952.
After serving in the Maryland National Guard, he received a bachelor's degree, then a law degree in 1954, both from the University of Baltimore.
Mr. McFarland was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1955 and worked for Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Maryland and the state Bureau of Land Acquisition. He was also an assistant state's attorney and trial magistrate.
In 1968, he co-founded a law firm on Frederick Road in Catonsville with Bill Trueth.
A general law practitioner, he later established McFarland & Masters with partner Ken Masters. He continued practicing law until retiring in 2004.
In 1983, he served as president of the Baltimore County Bar Association.
The longtime Catonsville resident was president of the Catonsville Business Association in 1975-1976, and was named Catonsville Citizen of the Year in 1981.
He served other community organizations as well, including the Southwest Coalition, St. Agnes Hospital Hospice program and Catonsville 2000, a group that made recommendations on ways to improve the Catonsville community.
Mr. McFarland was an avid hunter and fisherman and was a member of the Hunting Ridge Rod and Gun Club in Lost River, W.Va.
He enjoyed spending time at a family cabin in Allegany County's Green Ridge State Forest, and was also fond of gardening.
He was a resident of Fairhaven since 2014, and was a member and board member of Catonsville United Methodist Church. Services were held there Aug. 12.
In addition to his wife, Mr. McFarland is survived by two sons, Brian V. McFarland of Catonsville and Charles Barry McFarland of Easton; a daughter, Bonnie M. Ramsburg of Gettysburg, Pa.; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.
— Frederick N. Rasmussen