Donald Engley

ENGLEY, DONALD BROWN Donald Brown Engley, 94, of Bloomfield, died at Duncaster Retirement Community on March 19, 2012. He was born July 19, 1917 the son of the late Frank Ballantine Engley and the late Annie Brown Engley. He is survived by his wife Hope Lummis Engley and several nieces and nephews. He was predeceased by a daughter, Martha Anne, his brothers Robert E. Engley and Frank B. Engley Jr. He was a graduate of Mount Hermon School (1935), Amherst College (B.A. 1939) Columbia University School of Library Science (M.L.S. 1941) and the University of Chicago Graduate Library School (M.A. 1947), and received an honorary degree from Amherst in 1959, on the occasion of his 20th class reunion. He served on the library staffs of the Amherst, Columbia and New York Public libraries before entering military service in the United States Army in July of 1942. He advanced from infantry private to major and served as an anti-aircraft artillery battery commander with the 79th (Cross of Lorraine) Infantry Division in campaigns from Utah Beach in Normandy to Czechoslovakia. He was awarded the Bronze Star for the destruction of 12 enemy aircraft at the Seine River crossing north of Paris, a week before the liberation of that city in August 1944. In July 1945, after V-E Day, he was transferred to the staff of the newly created American Army University in Biarritz, France on the Bay of Biscay where he organized a library in a former gambling casino for 4000 American GI students and 350 faculty. In 1947 he became Librarian of Norwich University in Northfield, Vermont and in 1949 the Associate Librarian of Trinity College in Hartford. In this latter post he planned a new building to house both the Trinity and Watkinson libraries. He became Librarian of the college in 1951. In 1952 he was elected President of the Connecticut Library Association, beginning a long career of public service. He was a member of the Connecticut State Library Board from 1959 to 1974 and chaired the Governor's Committee on Libraries in 1961-1962 which led to the reorganization of the State's library services. In addition, he chaired a committee of heads of public librarians and library trustees which created the Capital Region Library Council, a consortium which became a model for the other regions of the State. During this time he also served as a library building consultant for several colleges and preparatory schools as well as a member of the Yale University Advisory Committee on Libraries. In addition he was a founder of the Trinity College and Watkinson Library Associates and the Friends of the Amherst College Library. In 1972 he was appointed Associate University Librarian of Yale University, this country's fourth largest research library which includes the Sterling Memorial Library and the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. At various times he served as a board member of the Connecticut Historical Society, the Mark Twain Memorial, the Stowe-Day foundation and the Watkins Library. He was a member of the Grolier, Acorn, Columbiad Old Guard and the Farmington clubs, as well as a member of the Amherst, Trinity and Yale Library Associates. In 1981/82 he assisted in the design of the library at the Duncaster Retirement Community, where he and his wife became residents in 1988. They were long time members of the First Church of Christ, Congregational in West Hartford. There will be a graveside service at the convenience of the family and burial will be in the family plot in Fairview Cemetery, West Hartford. Memorial contributions may be made to the Donald B. Engley Book fund, c/o the Watkinson Library, Trinity College, 300 Summit St. Hartford, CT 06106. Carmon Windsor Funeral Home has care of the arrangements. For online condolences please visit, www.carmonfuneralhome.com.