Rent-a-Parent founder to retire in May; partner to close Tiburon office

Rent-a-Parent Services founder Diana Chiarabano (left) — seen April 22 with dog Fletch and business partner Sarah Swift-Langbehn — is retiring after 40 years. Swift-Langbehn will take over and likely close the office at downtown Tiburon’s Maritime Center and move it closer to her Fairfax home. (Ted McDonnell / For The Ark)

After 40 years of running Rent-a-Parent Services, founder Diana Chiarabano is retiring at the end of May and handing the Tiburon-based child-care staffing company off to her longtime business partner.

Chiarabano announced her retirement from the business, which she started in 1984, in an April 15 email to families that use the service and the caregivers it employs. Chiarabano’s colleague of 20 years, Sarah Swift-Langbehn of Fairfax, will be taking over, the email said.

Chiarabano said the current office in the Maritime Center at 1640 Tiburon Blvd. will close at May’s end. She said she expects Swift-Langbehn will want to open an office closer to Fairfax because “ideally … she’d like to eliminate the commute.”

Chiarabano, 79, said she never had a desire to retire, even though many asked about it. But retiring “just kind of came upon me,” the Tiburon resident said.

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