‘The best of us’: Longtime Des Plaines Public Library board leader and LGBTQ advocate dies

Longtime Des Plaines Public Library board President Gregory Sarlo is being remembered as someone who cared deeply about people.

The 61-year-old Sarlo, who in addition to leading the library board was a psychologist focusing on the LGBTQ community, died early Wednesday at home. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in January, a library spokesperson said.

Des Plaines Mayor Andrew Goczkowski described Sarlo as warm, empathetic “and deeply committed to Des Plaines and its residents.”

“Dr. Gregory Sarlo was the best of us,” Goczkowski said. “We are better off for his leadership and vision, and his loss leaves a hole in our community that will be difficult to fill.”

Sarlo was a Fenwick High School alum who earned a bachelor’s degree at DePaul University and a graduate degree at what was then the Adler School of Professional Psychology in Chicago.

He had served on the library board since 2012 and had been its leader since 2013.

Sarlo helped oversee a $2.1 million renovation in 2016, as well as fundraising for and construction of a makerspace called the Canvas that opened in 2025. He provided LGBTQ training for library staffers, pushed for the city to recognize June as Pride Month and was instrumental in LGBTQ Pride flags being raised in June at the library and city hall.

The rainbow flag became a political lightning rod in Des Plaines in June 2016 when it first was flown at the library following a deadly mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando.

“Through visionary leadership, unwavering dedication and extraordinary service, Gregory has made a profound and lasting contribution to the betterment of the Des Plaines Public Library,” Kristen Graack, the board’s vice president, said in a prepared statement.

Sarlo remained active in library board business after his terminal cancer diagnosis. He inspired other board members and employees “to strive for excellence and meaningful impact,” library Director Laurie Papadourakis said.

Des Plaines library board members are selected by the mayor and city council, and Sarlo’s appointment last was renewed in October 2025. That term expires in June 2028.

Professionally, Sarlo owned and operated Psychological Consultations in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood with husband and fellow psychologist Danny Brewer. He also was chief of psychology at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and co-chair of its ethics committee.

This past February, Sarlo received the inaugural Enduring Contributions Award from the Illinois Psychological Association. He also was honored by the Cook County Board, which declared June to be Dr. Gregory Sarlo Pride Month.

Sarlo will posthumously receive the Armand Cerbone Distinguished Lifetime Contribution Award at the American Psychological Association’s upcoming convention.

No funeral information was available. A celebration of Sarlo’s life may be scheduled, according to the library.