Garland Henry McAdoo, Jr died peacefully in Durham, North Carolina on December 25, 2021 surrounded by family and loved ones. He was 80 years old.
Born in the back room of the “Old House” in Greensboro, North Carolina to Garland Henry McAdoo and Josephine (Alston) McAdoo; the first of eight children. He was predeceased by his younger sister, Joanne Black, and is survived by siblings Francine Scott, Martin McAdoo, Larry McAdoo, Harold McAdoo, Faye McAdoo and Gale Stout.
Garland attended the then segregated Dudley High School where he served as student body president and his “running buddies” were the Greensboro Four who led the nonviolent civil rights protests at the Woolworth’s lunch counter. Garland was already enrolled at North Carolina State University, where he was one of the first Black students in their Nuclear Engineering program. When he arrived at school, he had to teach himself the algebra he needed to do the calculus necessary for engineers. Despite having to “work twice as hard to get half as far”, it was during this time at NC State that he met Bennett College “Belle” Carolyn Walker (deceased), who he later married. During that time he briefly studied law at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill until his father convinced him that “all lawyers are crooks”, and he should stay in engineering. After graduating from State he went on to design power plants for nuclear submarines at the Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
As nuclear submarine propulsion became progressively less challenging, he decided that he might be of more service to the community with a law degree. He entered the University of Pittsburgh Law School, had a son, Brian Garland McAdoo, separated from his wife and was raising a newborn while finishing his degree. While working at Pittsburgh law firm Tucker Arensberg where he focused on helping Pittsburgh’s Black community by counseling non-profit organizations that worked with education, the arts, healthcare, social services, housing and economic development, he kept busy by serving on the boards of Pittsburgh Mercy Health Systems, Port Authority of Allegheny County, the Allegheny County Bar Association, the Urban League of Pittsburgh (as Chair for three years), the national Make-a-Wish Foundation and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. It was during this time when he met Julianne Young (deceased) who he was married to for 25 years. He finished his professional career as the general counsel for the Housing Authority of Pittsburgh.
One of Garland’s great loves was travel. While a student at NC State he had the opportunity to visit Nikita Khrushchev’s Soviet Union and later to Puerto Rico as in his capacity as Vice President of the Raleigh YMCA chapter. He loved visiting San Francisco, Seattle and New Orleans for meetings with the American Bar Association, and he later expanded to Switzerland and France after teaching himself just enough French to get in trouble. In 2004, he accompanied his son on a trip to Antarctica where he photographed leopard seals, albatrosses, penguins and lots and lots of ice.
A lifelong member of Holmes Grove United Methodist Church, Garland is survived by his son, Brian (Robin), adopted daughter Dawn Young, and grandchildren Zoe and Nina McAdoo and Juliette Young, and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, please consider donating to support the academic achievement of students at Greensboro’s Dudley High School.
https://www.gofundme.com/manage/garland-mcadoo-memorial-fund-for-dudley-hs
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