SACO — The value of helping others was instilled in Sweetser CEO Carlton Pendleton at a young age.

Pendleton said his father quit high school to get a job and help support his family, and later got his high school diploma while serving in the Navy. His mother was an orphan, who was bounced around to different homes. Both taught their children the importance of giving back, said Pendleton.

“My family has deep roots helping others,” he said.

Pendleton, 68, has spent his career helping others. He is retiring in December after 36 years of service to Sweetser, a nonprofit behavioral health organization.

Pendleton has served Sweetser in various capacities, beginning as a special education teacher. He has been president and CEO since 1991. Prior to his career at Sweetser, Pendleton was a school administrator in Orrington.

Working at Sweetser has been “a family affair,” said Pendleton. His sister, Eslie Parquette, is the senior director of education and residential services at Sweetser, and has worked for the organization for 41 years.

Other relatives who have worked at Sweetser include Pendleton’s parents, who were cottage parents at Sweetser’s residential school for a time after they retired; his daughter, who interned at Sweetser; and his son, who worked at the organization for a couple of summers.

Sweetser has many of long-time employees, said Pendleton, and in recent years, many of the open positions have been filled by former employees who have come back.

“You see so much heartache and devastation at a place like Sweetser,” said Pendleton, and it is important to be quick to respond to those in need.

“It’s always a challenge. There are always people who need help. I’ve identified myself with great people who work hard to make things happen,” said Pendleton.

Sweetser began in 1828 with the merging of four orphanages, and by the 1960s, the organization focused on residential services for children with severe emotional or behavioral problems or learning disabilities.

In 1980, Sweetser expanded its services to include community-based services for children and adults.

When Pendleton started at Sweetser, it served 200 children. Now, it serves more than 20,000 children and adults annually.

“It’s a different organization than what I inherited,” said Pendleton.

The organization has merged six times, and all those times, the other organization sought out Sweetser, said Pendleton. He said though Sweetser is aggressive in terms of providing services, it is not aggressive in acquiring other organizations.

The job has had its challenges. Pendleton describes himself as a “glass half full” kind of guy, and has been able to think creatively to continue to provide the best services for its clients.

One example is the solution the company found after cuts made during the Baldacci administration. Pendleton said the company currently employs 800 people, but before the cuts, it employed 1,200. The organization reinvented itself, and now has 600 affiliated clinicians to fill in the gaps.

Sweetser Vice President of Finance Debra Taylor is transitioning to replace Pendleton. Taylor has worked for Sweetser for 14 years.

“Sweetser is in good hands,” said Pendleton.

Pendleton doesn’t have any definitive plans for his retirement. He and his wife will spend time with family, as all his four children now currently live in the area after some had moved away, he said. He will continue running every day with Parquette, as they’ve done on a daily basis since the 1980s. He said he will continue to be an advocate for Sweetser, and he wants to help raise funds to develop a 40-acre plot of land in Searsport, donated to Sweetser, into a camp.

— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 325 or [email protected].