1925 – 2019

Brunswick, Rodney G. Sarle 94, died Monday, May 27, 2019 in Brunswick. He was born March 29, 1925 in Rumford. He attended local Rumford schools. In January of 1943, he enrolled at Brown University where he later joined the U.S. Navy v-12 Program. While at Brown he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. In October of 1944 he transferred to the Navy’s officer training program at Harvard Business School. After being commissioned as an ensign in September 1945, he was posted to the U.S. Naval Base at Reykjavik, Iceland. Following his discharge as a lieutenant, j.g., in 1946, he returned to Harvard Business School to complete his studies. In June 1947 he was awarded a B.A. degree in economics from Brown University and a M.B.A. from Harvard.

After a few years in Business positions, Sarle joined the faculty of the University of Maryland. Later he was appointed to the faculty of the school of Business Administration at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, during which time he earned a MSLS from the School of Library Science. In 1958 he was selected as a special recruit by the Library of Congress, Washington, DC, where he served in various research, reference and administrative positions before being appointed in 1964, director of the Library’s acquisition and processing office attached to the American Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. Following the Six Day War in June 1967, Sarle was evacuated from Egypt and was assigned as director of the Library of Congress office in Karachi, Pakistan. Later he held the duel appointment of director of both the Cairo and Karachi offices. He subsequently headed the Library’s offices in New Delhi, India, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1976 he returned to Washington to head the Library of Congress’s programs in parts of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.

In 1989, Sarle, retired from the Library of Congress, moved to Brunswick where he continued to pursue his lifelong interest in travel and where he performed volunteer work at local libraries, the Maine State Music Theater, the 55 Plus Center and elsewhere. He was predeceased by two brothers Richard and Alan and is survived a niece, several nephews and grand nephews. There are no services planned at this time. To leave a note of condolence or share a memory please visit www.brackettfh.com.

 

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