RODNEY ARMSTRONG Obituary

ARMSTRONG, Rodney Died on April 14th, 2021, at home and surrounded by family. He was 98. Born in Atlanta in 1923, he attended the Lawrenceville School and enlisted in the Navy in July 1943. He served as a medical corpsman aboard the escort carrier USS Suwannee and was wounded in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He was awarded a Purple Heart and discharged in May 1945 as a pharmacist's mate second class.

After the war he attended Williams College, graduating in 1948. He received a Master of Library Science degree from Columbia University and began his career as the librarian of Phillips Exeter Academy, a post he held for 23 years. While at Exeter, he oversaw the design and construction of the Class of 1945 Library, one of the most important works of the architect Louis Kahn.

In 1969, he married Katharine Price Cortesi of New York, a union that lasted over half a century. They had two children: Louise Spencer in 1970 and Robert Knowlton in 1971.

He was the Director and Librarian of the Boston Athenaeum from 1973 to 1997, where he led a significant revival of the institution, both culturally and financially.

Upon retiring from the Athenaeum, he worked as an associate at Sotheby's and divided his time between Boston and Ipswich, Massachusetts.

He served as the president of the Trustees of Donations for Education in Liberia, the Club of Odd Volumes in Boston, the Manuscript Society, and the New England Historic Genealogical Society. He was a member of a myriad of other clubs and organizations, including the Grolier Club and Century Association in New York, the Somerset, Union, and Tavern Clubs in Boston, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received an honorary doctorate from the University of Liberia.

His sisters Mary Sams and Elizabeth Leps predeceased him. In addition to his wife and children, he is survived by his son-in-law Randolph Barton, III, his daughter-in-law Wylie O'Sullivan and five grandchildren: Randolph, Henry, and Katharine Barton, and Elsie and Augustus Armstrong. His wife, children and grandchildren will remember his loyalty and generosity to all around him.

Services will be private.

To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

Published by Boston Globe from Apr. 16 to Apr. 19, 2021.

Memories and Condolences
for RODNEY ARMSTRONG

5 Entries

Joe Junkin

April 30, 2021

I hope Toni and Rodney are in Heaven pulling each other’s leg. One of the nicest, funniest and brightest lights in the firmament — Joe Junkin

Gar Morse

April 25, 2021

Mr. Armstrong was librarian and a faculty resident of Wentworth Hall when I was a student at Exeter in 1962. He was a true gentleman, an empathetic and humble human and an insightful scholar. He quietly added intelligence to every circumstance I saw him in.

Mary Otis Stevens

April 22, 2021

With Rodney at the helm, the Boston Athenaeum made a graceful transition from a private, inward focussed to an outward reaching cultural institution--what he referred to as its "public face--while maintaining the integrity & literary fellowship of its heritage.
Through his long tenure as Director Rodney used his previous life experiences to expand the BA's programs and scope of services attracting new members, donors, Grants and funding sources.
To cut down on operating expense he featured volunteerism, a common practice of members since the Library's founding in 1807.
His personal affiliations with local and national societal organizations also helped him connect with and sometimes co-sponsor significant events in the public realm. In these and many other ways Rodney Armstrong has left an enduring imprint and set an example for all members of the Athenaeum to follow.

Simone Taylor

April 18, 2021

May God continue to bless you and your family in this time of sorrow. Please except my condolences.

Mike Casey

April 17, 2021

Mr. Armstrong,
Sir, I would just like to say thank you for your service and sacrifice for our Country when you served with the USN in the Pacific fighting the Japanese during WW II as crewmember on the “Jeep” carrier USS Suwanee(CVE-27)-especially during the Battle of Leyte Gulf-largest naval battle in history. And to your Family and loved ones, I wish to extend my deepest sympathy.

Fair Winds And Following Seas

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