Sarah Packard Rose was born in Westbrook, Maine in 1931. She graduated from Gorham High School and earned a bachelor’s degree, Phi Beta Kappa, from Colby College in 1953.
After college, Sarah served for two years as the director of public relations at the former Hillyer College (now part of the University of Hartford) in Hartford, Connecticut. She moved to Harpswell in 1955 when she married Charles Rose, and taught for five years at Brunswick Junior High School. Sarah left teaching to follow her husband to Michigan, Illinois, and Massachusetts as he pursued a career in the burgeoning computer industry. While raising her six children, she took courses towards a master’s degree in library science. In 1973, the family returned to Harpswell and Sarah joined the media center staff at Mount Ararat School, where she worked for six years.
Sarah Rose died in 1989 in Westborough, Massachusetts, after a long battle with cancer. She had dedicated her life to the education of young people and believed that a liberal arts education helps students become well-rounded individuals by preparing students to think critically, analyze issues, develop a sense of social responsibility, and acquire a broader knowledge of the world in which they live. Sarah’s husband of 34 years, Charlie, along with friends and family, created this scholarship in her honor.
Awards from this fund are based on student financial need, after which recipients are requested to be graduates of Mt. Ararat High school, and pursuing or intending to pursue a liberal arts education.