Sarah Green Williams Obituary
"I was born under the sun sign of Aquarius, rising sign of Scorpio, on February 19, 1932. "I came in with Roosevelt." These were two of the ways that Sarah Williams spoke about her entrance into the world. She was born in Bristol, Virginia to Georgia Jones, a school teacher, and Fred Green, a Navy vet.
She grew up in Oak Ridge, TN, and graduated from the University of Tennessee with a degree in psychology. In 1954, she married Loren Williams, also a Navy veteran, and they raised three children. She and Loren moved frequently, eventually settling in Richmond, Virginia and retiring to Boone, NC.
Over her lifetime, she was a librarian and a primary school teacher. When her youngest started school, she went back to school herself for a degree in social work, was then a case worker for DFACS in Georgia and a nursing home inspector for the state of Virginia. She was the opening social services director at the Westminster- Canterbury retirement community in Richmond, where she set a high standard for competent, caring work with residents which is still felt there today. She went back to school again to train as a masseuse; her family and friends benefited as she practiced this craft.
These were just the jobs for which she was paid. She gave freely of her time as a dedicated member of Episcopal churches in St. Alban's in El Paso, St. Augustine's in Augusta, Holy Comforter in Richmond, and St. Luke's in Boone -- she served as ECW president, junior Warden, head of Christian Education, Sacristan. She was a weaver; she taught English to Hispanic immigrants and migrant workers; she spent many days in southern Mississippi rebuilding after Katrina. Sarah was fearless; there was nothing that she made up her mind to do, that she couldn't, wouldn't and didn't take on.
She was an avid reader and a dear and cherished friend. One of her closest friendships grew from a shared love of reading, especially the works of Charles Williams, Joseph Campbell and Carl Jung. It nurtured her conviction that there was much more of the world than what we can perceive with our senses. She was admired for her exuberant taste in jewelry. She loved travel of all sorts: taking off to Oaxaca at the drop of a hat, driving a van with her husband to Alaska or a moving truck cross country with her son, tromping through the desert of Arizona with her sisters, exploring the highlands of Scotland or the rocky coast of Maine. She was a passionate lover of the natural world, enjoying hiking and camping and the simplicity of living out of a backpack.
After her husband of 54 years died, she moved from Boone to Decatur, Ga., making more friends, becoming a part of new communities and living fearlessly in the face of advancing dementia. In the last months of her weakness and disease, she was ably and generously cared for by a number of caregivers, the Society of St. Anna the Prophet, hospice workers and the staff at Arbor Terrace.
She is survived by her sisters Betty Gardner-Tuzzolino of Sun Lakes, AZ and Julie Miller of Knoxville, TN; brothers and sisters-in-law Leland and Cornelia Williams of Columbia, SC, Ellison and Elizabeth Smith of Conway SC; her sons and daughters-inlaw Loren and Susan Williams of Decatur, Georgia, Steve and Helen Williams of Deep Gap, NC, David Williams and Sarah Zapolsky of Alexandria, Virginia; and five grandchildren: Kate, in Berkeley, CA; Sam, in Nashville, TN; Sally, Boston, MA; Aaron, in Raleigh, NC and Robert in Alexandria, VA.
Funeral and burial services will be held at St. Luke's Church, 170 Council St. Boone, NC 28607 at 2pm on January 30. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Luke's Church, Memorial Fund, Halcyon Hospice of Atlanta, Episcopal Relief and Development, or Lewy Body Dementia Association.