Charles M. "Chad' McCollam Jr. of Bethel, chief of staff to Democratic governors Ella T. Grasso and William A. O'Neill -- and one of the most influential behind-the-scenes forces in Connecticut politics in the 1970s and 1980s -- died Wednesday at Danbury Hospital, a spokesman for his family said Thursday. He was 78.
The cause of his death after a short illness has not been announced, but McCollam had diabetes for some time, friends said.
"He was a terrific person. He was a political institution," said David McQuade, a state Capitol lobbyist, who previously served as a gubernatorial aide in O'Neill's office before succeeding McCollam as chief of staff in 1988. "Chad was a great backroom political operative, and very loyal," McQuade said.
McCollam was a veteran Democratic office holder and party official at both the local and state levels. He served several years as a member of the state House of Representatives beginning in 1959, and 10 years later won the first of three elections for Bethel first selectman by just three votes. He also served as the clerk of the state Senate.
McCollam was a burly and unpretentious man who in 1977 described himself in a Courant profile as "an overweight, 44-year-old politician." He became known as a close adviser and confidant to not only Grasso and O'Neill, but also legendary Democratic state and national chairman John Bailey.