Charles “Charley” R. Vaughan

Charles (Charley) Reifers Vaughan, 96, of Lafayette, Indiana, passed away on February 21, 2026, leaving behind a legacy as vibrant and large as the life he lived. Charley lived with energy and conviction— guided by integrity, fueled by joy, and anchored by love for his family and hometown.

Born in Lafayette on July 26, 1929, to Charles Leo and Mary Reifers Vaughan, Charley was the youngest of five children— the one who would ride his bike two miles to the Tippecanoe County Fairgrounds just to spend time with the family horse named Tex. That instinct, to move toward what he loved with everything he had, never left him. It carried him to his senior year at Jefferson High School, where he was a starting forward on the 1948 state championship basketball team, and to Helen “Tudy” Golden, a cheerleader on the sidelines, who would become his wife of almost 60 years. His passion for basketball led him to Indiana University, where he was a member of the basketball team in 1949-50 and earned his business degree in 1952. Two years later, on April 24, 1954, Charley and Tudy were married at St. Mary Cathedral in Lafayette. The newlyweds moved to Chicago, where Charley served as a First Lieutenant in the Army Finance Corps for two years at Fort Sheridan in Lake Forest, Illinois. Charley received his law degree from Valparaiso University in 1957 and returned to Lafayette with Tudy to raise their family and join his father’s firm, Vaughan & Vaughan.

Charley’s homecoming marked the start of a prolific career as a trial lawyer, trying more than 200 civil jury trials. He became the youngest president of the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association in 1966. Charley was named Indiana Trial Lawyer of the Year in 1987 and Distinguished Alumnus of Valparaiso University in 1989. He was listed in Best Lawyers of America for fifteen consecutive years and honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Indiana Trial Lawyers Association in 1998. He was also recognized as a Sagamore of the Wabash, the highest honorary award by the Indiana Governor.

It was his courage, however, that set him apart. Charley’s most nationally recognized work was his successful representation of Ryan White, the Kokomo teenager barred from attending school after contracting AIDS. Ryan’s lawsuit against the Western School Corporation became one of the most closely followed legal battles of the mid-1980s. Through Charley’s efforts, Ryan was allowed to return to school despite his illness. The case set an important precedent protecting individuals with AIDS from discrimination.

Charley had an unbridled enthusiasm for horses and golf. He became a respected competitor and breeder in the National Reining Horse Association, building a program whose bloodlines still run through some of the finest reiners in the sport, including NRHA Hall of Fame mare Miss Tinseltown. Charley received the Dale Wilkinson Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021, in recognition of his longstanding dedication to the sport. Over the years he won many horse shows, including the NRHA Reining Futurity Open, the Carolina Classic Derby, the All-American Quarterhorse Open, the NRHA All-American Quarterhorse Congress.

Charley was the Golf Club Champion of Lafayette Country Club in 1968 and 1977. He remained an avid golfer for life, taking a golf lesson at Coral Ridge Country Club just last week. That was Charley— independent, relentless, and utterly unwilling to be anything less than fully alive.

He was preceded in death by his beloved wife, Helen “Tudy” Golden Vaughan; his parents, Charles Leo and Mary Reifers Vaughan; and his siblings, Jack N. Vaughan, Marjorie Price, Mary Traylor, and Colleen Myers Hopkins. He is survived by his four children: Charles V. Vaughan (SaraBeth), Steven Vaughan, Kelly Busch (Terrance), and Suzanne Bindley (James); his grandchildren: Charles J. Vaughan (Georgia), Nicholas Busch (Jackie), Scott Busch, Sean Busch, Holly Bindley, Lillian Bindley Kasper (Aaron), Joy Bindley, Jack H. Vaughan (Sawyer), and Lauren Vaughan; his great-grandchildren: Maeve Busch, Bonnie Busch, and Hugo Kasper; and by many nieces and nephews.

Services and mass are being held on Friday, March 6, 2026, at St. Mary Cathedral in Lafayette. Visitation starts at 10:30 a.m. and a Mass of Christian Burial will begin at 12:00 p.m. Burial will follow at St. Mary Cemetery.  Contributions can be made in his memory to the National Reining Horse Foundation (NRHA), 3021 W. Reno Avenue, Oklahoma City, OK 73107, or the Indiana Golf Foundation, P.O. Box 26159, Indianapolis, IN 46226.