Robert Christie Nangle

1930 - 2017

MERIDEN - Robert Christie (Bob) Nangle died peacefully Tuesday, May 9, 2017, after a long illness. Karen (née Frede), his wife of 57 years was by his side. A graduate of the Foote School, Groton School, and Yale University, he learned how to set monotype, in the fashion of Gutenberg, at Groton, beginning a life-long involvement in the rapidly changing industry of printing and publishing. When he became a partner in Clarke and Way, he had to join the International Typographers Union to be allowed to run the very machines that he owned himself. He was amused to discover he was the only graduate of Groton who belonged to a Union. He was instrumental in producing the first book printed by optical character recognition. Ultimately, he founded his own company designing and setting books by computer instead of monotype. He loved tailoring the specific look of the printed word on a title page or chapter opener so the design echoed the essence of the book.

In addition to his wife, Karen, he is survived by his daughter, Jocelyn; son, Frederic; daughter-in-law, Nina Crothers; granddaughters, Sofia and Freya Nangle; and his beloved dog, Neave.

Services were private. Please consider a donation in Bob's memory to the Meriden Humane Society.