Tributes

George A. Sargent, a resident of the Main Line since 1958 (Bryn Mawr until 2003 and then Haverford), died at home on Monday morning, November 16th. He was 94 years old. Born July 19, 1915, in Ben Avon, Pennsylvania, he was the oldest son and second child of George and Cora Turner Sargent of Columbus, Ohio. He graduated from Upper Arlington High School in Columbus and from The Ohio State University with a B. C. E. (Civil Engineering) in 1937, where he was a member of ASCE, Engineering Council, Texnikoi, and Phi Delta Theta fraternity, and also served as Vice-President of Tau Beta Pi and President of Pi Tau Pi Sigma. Married for 63 years to Margaret Alma Kromer (with whom he had served as co-valedictorian of his graduating high school class), George was the devoted father of four children, the two eldest being the late Joanne and the late George A. Sargent III. In 2001, after Margaret’s death, he married Dorothy Rodda Sargent of Havertown. He worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad for twenty-three years, before taking a position as a senior transportation consultant with Ford, Bacon & Davis in New York City. He commuted daily from Bryn Mawr to lower Manhattan for over twenty years and from his office window watched (with a civil engineer’s curiosity) the World Trade Center being built. His expertise with railroads and public transportation had an international impact through lengthy assignments and engineering reports in Australia and Algeria, as well as closer to home (in the Pacific Northwest and in the northeast U.S.). A triple heart bypass in the mid 70s and the resulting lifestyle changes gave him 35 more years. He loved the water and was a avid fisherman and sailer (especially of the Motsy—a wooden canoe he outfitted with a mast and leeboards—and later the Motsy II). He started his lifelong love of travel as a young man (from Canada to the Colorado Rockies); visited his grown children in Holland, England, and the Baja; and made his last of many trips to San Diego, Oregon, and Canada in 2001 when he was eighty-six. He loved music, especially the concerts of Schola Cantorum on Hudson, and was an active member of Ardmore Presbyterian Church for over fifty years, singing in the choir, serving as an usher, and, during the 1990s, working as a Trustee. Spending his last few years at home with his beloved Dottie was made possible by the faithful companionship of Prince Jones. He is survived by his wife, Dorothy Rodda Sargent; by his daughters, Mary Elizabeth (Betsy) Sargent of Edmonton, Canada, and Caroline L. Sargent of East Orange, New Jersey; by his daughter-in-law Berendien (Mrs. George A. Sargent III); by two nephews (Warren and Carlyle Potts); by four Rodda stepchildren (Carolyn, Beverly, Gordon, and David); and by five grandchildren—Hannah, Martine, Randal, Molly, and John—and a stepgranddaughter, Lauren. His memorial service was held on Sat., Nov. 21, 11 A.M., in the First Presbyterian Church of Ardmore. Contributions may be made to either the above named church (www.ardmorepres.org), your local hospice or Schola Cantorum on Hudson (www.scholaonhudson.org).

Tributes

George A. Sargent

July 19, 1915 - November 16, 2009