David Stevens Garlick, 86, concluded his life on December 3, 2024, after a brief stay at Martha Jefferson Hospital in Charlottesville, VA. He was born to David and Marjorie Jones Garlick of Milwaukee, WI on May 7, 1938, and is preceded in death by his younger brother, Daniel Garlick; and his brothers-in-law, Alan St. George of Sintra, Portugal and Eugene Paslov of Carson City, NV.
Stevens is survived by his wife, Nancy Buckingham Garlick, whom he met in a faculty meeting at The College of Wooster (Ohio); his two sisters, Susan Paslov of Carson City and Mary St. George of Sintra; and nieces and nephews, Joseph Paslov, Jon Paslov, Marji Paslov Thomas, Molly St. George and Alexander St. George; and several great-nieces and nephews.
In Milwaukee, Stevens attended The Country Day School where he excelled in languages and music. He then attended The University School of Milwaukee, a college prep school, followed by Harvard College where he was a member of Eliot House and the Class of 1960. Majoring in Germanic Languages and Literature, Stevens received an A.B. magna cum laude. He was then awarded a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Freie Universitat, Berlin (Free University), where he met his closest life-long friend, Eric Wilson. Stevens subsequently earned an M.A.(1965) and Ph.D. (1973) from Stanford University. His teaching career began with positions at Pomona College, followed by Middlebury College, The College of Wooster and Mary Baldwin University, retiring in 2004.
While Stevens loved German culture, his true passion was always music. With a strong bass-baritone voice, he studied singing in Boston and at the Hochschule fuer Musik, Berlin, resulting in many varied performances. These include Dr Bartolo in Paisiello's II Barbiere di Siviglia at the Opera Workshop of the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria; Leporello in Mozart's Don Giovanni at the Stanford Opera Theatre; and Count Almaviva in Mozart's Marriage of Figaro at the College of Wooster. Noteworthy as well are a dozen principal roles in the operettas of Gilbert and Sullivan. Stevens has soloed in oratorios of Handel, Bach, Haydn and Mozart and enjoyed performing art song in German, English, Italian and Czech. He also performed with the Virginia Consort of Charlottesville for many years. His talents as a comic actor/singer in such musicals as Honk, performed with the Four County Players, were memorable as well as many others at the Oak Grove Theater in Staunton, VA.
Stevens' engaging wit and humor, sincerity, generosity and warmth made him a special friend to many and revealed a uniqueness that will long be remembered and sorely missed.
A memorial service was held at Hill and Wood Funeral Home in Charlottesville, VA on December 23, 2024.
Slightly modified from version published by Charlottesville’s The Daily Progress on December 12, 2024.
