Clarksville, Indiana, historian Jane Sarles, 89, died peacefully March 28 at Norton Audubon Hospital.
A 1950 New Albany High School graduate, Jane held a master's degree in library science from Indiana University-Bloomington and was a librarian at IU-Southeast, two schools in Bedford, Indiana, public libraries in Jeffersonville and Charlestown, and Lanesville K-12 public school. After she retired in 1992, she devoted countless hours to exploring Clarksville's history and sharing it with the public.
She co-founded and led the town's first historical society, curated its first history museum, and organized a reenactment of the start of Lewis and Clark's 1804-06 journey West—achievements prompting the town to declare Dec. 22 "Jane Sarles Day" and to name a street off Eastern Boulevard "Jane Sarles Lane." She was officially named Clarksville town historian in 2014.
For nine years, her weekly column "Looking Back: Local History as Printed in Clark and Floyd County Newspapers Over the Last 100 Years" appeared in The Evening News, featuring such gems as: "Eddie T., the Utica fat boy who floats like a cork, will give a swimming exhibition Saturday evening at the foot of Spring Street at 6 o'clock" and "The Evening News notes that the flag at the courthouse remains at half mast, but so far as is known, nobody is dead."
Jane also wrote four books: "Clarksville, Indiana," 2001; "The Best of Looking Back," 2012; "Clarksville, Indiana: Then and Now," 2014; and "A History Lover's Guide to Kentuckiana," 2015.
She served on commissions for the Ohio River Greenway, Clarksville Historic Preservation, Falls of the Ohio and Buffalo Trace, received the John H. Minta Tourism Award from the Clark-Floyd Convention and Tourism Bureau, and was a finalist for Clark County Woman of the Year.
An accomplished genealogist, she traced her family tree back nine generations. She was an avid classic movie fan, amassing a collection of more than 300 of Hollywood's best films. She loved to travel and visited the Caribbean, Europe, Morocco, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji.
She was married to Robert Fitzpatrick from 1950 to 1961 and to Jerrell Sarles from 1962 until his death in 2012.
Survivors include children Denise Fitzpatrick, Clarksville; Christopher Fitzpatrick, Georgetown, Kentucky, and Patrick Sarles, Otisco; grandchildren, Ben Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.; Megan Bergquist, Birmingham, Alabama, and Brady Yocom, Asheville, North Carolina; and great-grandchildren, Grant and Molly Bergquist, Birmingham, Alabama.
Jane's memorial service will be May 1 at 2:00 p.m. at The Tabernacle, Silver Heights Camp, 501 Camp Ave., New Albany. Everyone who knew her is welcome.
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