A really sad day. My thoughts and prayers will be with Steve and his family.

LTG : (

Terribly sad news,
He helped me more than a few times with system 80 pins I would pick up.
Once I had a Pink Panther that I posted on pinside to view, and he noticed my center plastic wasn't cracked/broken and he offered to send me a new metal protector.
"How much I asked?"
"Don't worry about it, no charge"
That's the kind of guy he was.

My thoughts go out to him and his family.

Sad news, RIP

So sad. RIP Steve and best wishes for your friends and family.

Be strong Cliffy and I'll bet you have some great stories to tell.

Russ
Team-EM of days gone by.

This. I met him for the first time a few years ago at PAGG, at Sparky's BBQ, and he was always smiling, always telling a great story or giving some great tech advice. I hardly knew anybody in the hobby at that time and we ended up sitting together and talking for a good half hour or more. It was always such a pleasure seeing him every year at PAGG because if all else failed, I knew I had at least one friend there; and he was always smiling and laughing it up with someone.

Truly a great guy and he will truly be missed.

That sucks!! My haunted house would have never run without his help. Great dude and he will be missed by all.

Really sad and sorry to hear this - I never met him in person but knew him as one of the CARGPB clan - as I am also one such CARGPB group member.
I didn't realise how Ill he has been and he will be sadly missed. My thoughts and prayers are with his family, loved ones and friends

May you rest in peace and so sad to lose a great guy

CARGPB #19

Oh man... That sucks. I just had the pleasure of meeting him last year at PAGG.

RIP

godspeed.

Rest in Peace Steve

So sad to hear this...Rest easy brother even though I never had the honor of meeting you in person we talked on the phone and in the hey dey of RGP we had many fun and playful dialogues with other CARGPB brothers your knowledge and willingness to help others will be missed greatly!! I hope he and 33 1/3 are up there flippin' on a Spirit or Spanish Eyes and catching up!! Thoughts and prayers to his family and to brother Clippy I know you are missing him!!

Phoebe
CARGPB#38

So sad to hear this news. Listening to Steve's stories at PAGG was so much fun! He will be dearly missed. Thoughts and prayers to his family.

I only interacted with Steve a couple of times over the years, but I know he was a stand up guy who was well respected, always hurts when the good ones get taken

That sucks he was a good dude I only knew him from here but he would allways help me out with tech questions and he well be missed RIP BLOWNFUSE

Truly sad news. Such a great guy and a huge part of the pinball community. He'll be terribly missed.

Rest in peace Steve.

Words cant express what a great man Steve was thoughts and prayers to his family. Rip

Peace be with you Steve.

This makes me sad. Steve worked with me over the years on a number of games on the IPDB. Very nice man.

Jay

Although I didn't know Steve, it's always sad when someone passes. Even more so when they've obviously had such a positive impact on so many people.

RIP Mr Charland.

Rest in peace, my brother. I will never forget you.

Oh man, this is terrible news. I really thought he was gonna pull through, and was looking forward to seeing and talking to him at PAGG in May. Such a loss. RIP Steve. The pinball community has lost a great man. Prayers and warm wishes to his family.

Todd

Just terrible news.

RIP Steve.

I just came across this photo that Cliffy took at Al's memorial service. I had completely forgotten I had it. Thank you Cliffy for giving me a lasting reminder.

Steve C and Steve F (resized).jpg

Oh man....no words....

--
Rob Anthony
Pinball Classics
http://LockWhenLit.com
Quality Board Work - In Home Service
borygard at gmail dot com

Very sorry. RIP Steve.

Sad and shocked to get this news.

Steve was extremely kind, generous and helpful. Met him years ago at his home when he took in my old system 80 Spiderman, the same time he was literally raising the roof on his house. Such a nice guy.

My thoughts are with his family.

Don Highly called me with this terrible new a short while ago. What sad day. Steve was one one of the kindest and most giving guys you could ever meet. It's so easy to offer praise for the recently passed, but in Steve's case, he deserved every bit of it now and throughout his all too short a life. Godspeed my friend...

Ugh.... what terrible news.

Steve and Jim (aka Gott Lieb on RGP) help me diagnose an issue I had with my first Gottlieb pin. Man, that had to be almost 20 years ago. Most recently, I had a snafu with a Gottlieb Spirit Steve had help me solve.

I'll miss you System 80 brother...

There are no words that have not already been said about Steve, his genuine kindness, friendships, and love for the hobby. We all have lost a great friend today. My deepest sympathy to his family. I know there is a huge hole in my heart, you will be missed very much my friend.

Rest in Peace Steve
Love you

I am deeply saddened by the news of Steve's passing. He was one heck of a guy, whether it be pinball or otherwise. Rest in peace, Steve. I hope that the brown trout are biting for you in paradise, brother.

Jim CARGPB35

BEST QUOTE EVER.....

I never had the privilege of meeting Steve but I've learned a lot from his posts going back to the RGP days. He was a great asset to the pinball community and will be missed. RIP Steve.

My friendship with Steve started 14 yrs ago on the Pinball collector register, I was new to the hobby and was seeking Pinball repair. I still remember the day I called Steve and he answered on the first ring and said "Steve here". From the moment I talked with him and through the years of our friendship he as always remained the same kind, generous, unselfish, person that we have seen, met, and heard of. He was like an older brother to me when I was around him and he always looked out for me when it came to the hobby and throughout our friendship. I spent countless hours with Steve learning this hobby, asking him stupid questions, hearing his funny stories, going on vacation with him and just being good friends. I will never forget his willingness to teach people how to do things and his patience on the phone answering tech questions, I was around many times when Pinsiders or RGP folks were on the line. I will never forget you my friend, because of you I have become friends with other wonderful people in this hobby. You definitely had an impact on my life and I thank you for it. My heart goes out to Kathy, Amber, Aubrey and family.
Sincerely,
Joe Gioffre

I first met Steve at CAX awhile back. He came through with some fuses and solder when i needed it for a quick game fix. Good guy.

Not exactly the news we all wanted to hear.

Glad I knew you... but not nearly as well as I would have liked.

Exactly the same way I felt when Al Garber died... but at least I 'did' know you. Thanks again for helping me with that quirky problem on my Rocket, don't think I could have repaired it without your help.

Rest in peace, my fellow pinball lover.

Glen Peters

We all hope that news like this will never come. I was looking forward to, and truly hoping to be, trout fishing with Steve at his envisioned Idaho spread. Man, he shared some awesome fishing stories. It is truly a shame that a man who worked so hard his entire life, who was always there to give others his time and share his experiences, and was so universally loved could not be amongst us longer. Much longer.

People like Steve don't come along often. I'm lucky to have crossed paths with him. My memories of him will be forever cherished.

Steve...you and AL (Garber) could be having a high time right now. I hope that is so. Don't forget to look up Kordek...he has some ideas on game design.

Rest peacefully my brother.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31

Noooo, last I checked the thread I thought things were going well - terribly shocking and sad to hear, what a blow to the community. Never got meet him unfortunately, would have loved to though, always seemed like such a great guy and seemed to stay positive up until the end. Rest in peace Steve, or should I say Mr. Charland. I'm sure his help and generosity will remain in the community for a long time both in the form documented fixes and memories alike.

"One irreplaceable fuse that blew too early".

Hope there's lots of Gottlieb System 80 up where you are, always in perfectly working condition. Or maybe he would prefer the fixing. A very sad day.

Steven

Oh, and when I get back to my collection I'm totally playing my System 80 game first thinking of Steve... I'll have a toast.

I feel very fortunate, I was able to see him one final time in 2016 at PAGG.
His dedication will live on for his contributions to the industry and hobby.
His cowboy hat would be an amazing piece of history in a pinball museum for his dedication.

He made me feel less old in comparison to remembering times when SS80 were being ready to be thrown out by owners, dealers, brokers, and collectors due to lack of understanding of the improvements required with grounding mods, pop driver boards, reset circuitry, edge connectors, and other "bulletproofing" methods required. This does not even consider his support in development of new PCBs.

Many people have used his information countlessly, and never even knew he was one of the original writers.

I'm in shock and a little sick to my stomach right now. -
I am so very proud to be associated with Steve Charland and the charitable underground society that he and Cliffy mysteriously created.

Rest in peace my Captain.

Kim Mitchell CARGPB #36

Never met the guy, but it sounds like he was the iconic selfless ambassador for the pinball hobby without the hint of an ego.

A trait that is becoming far too rare in this day and age.

Vale CARGPB #1.

Damn. I only knew Steve from exchanges that we had on RGP and Pinside threads, but it was clear that he was a standup guy.

Peace man.

Oh Steve...
;(
'
'

Rest in peace Steve.

We prayed for Steve, and will continue to keep his family in our thoughts. I was really looking forward to meeting him at PAGG this year. Very sad at the moment.....

So sad. Sorry to hear this. RIP Steve

Al Garber (CARGPB #33 1/3), Cliffy (CARGPB #2), and our brother Steve (CARGPB #1) or just "number one" exhibiting his natural big smile. This was one of the first years we had the Team-EM shirts. I didn't make it out that year. Steve wore his shirt a different day. What a big hole his passing has left.
--
Chris Hibler - CARGPB #31

al_cliffy_steve_team-em (resized).JPG

Dang. This is sad. I always loved how much blownfuse would comment on almost every "help! My Gottlieb is driving me nuts!" post and help out. Prayers for the family and friends.

I didn't know Steve personally, but I know I've seen him/met him at some point. Maybe CAX or Banning??? Sounds like he was a class act. RIP, pinball brother.