In Loving Memory of Sarah Bell. Her light will shine in our hearts forever.

"There will never be another person as special as our beloved copy editor, Sarah V. Bell. She was diagnosed with cancer  in October and passed away peacefully on December 28, 2020 in Watkinsville, Georgia.. 

She has been with us from the beginning of this amazing journey in editing eleven editions of our special interest publications. She was mindful and often spent time with my late mother, reading to her as her eyesight failed, sharing a cup of tea and a few laughs along the way. She also became close to Maggie Mae and Sadie Sae, our two sister labs and would stay with them when we traveled. She was a caring and loving friend, animal-lover and  co-worker. Her wit, dedication, loyalty and passion will be forever missed. Thank you Sarah for being a part of our lives."
~ Nancy and Dan
Photo by Nancy Suttles in Watkinsville, Georgia. It was one of Sarah's favorites.

Excerpt from her obituary:
No one will ever forget Sarah’s great sense of humor, integrity, intelligence and wit, her dedication to teaching and civic life, her passion for music and literature, and deep devotion to her Christian faith. Every day of her life, Sarah transformed the energy of her clear convictions and love for God into making the world a better place, always with great warmth and heart.
Students from the University of North Georgia, the Prince Avenue Christian School, and homeschool groups recall Sarah as a rigorous English teacher who insisted on critical thinking, good grammar, and close reading of literature. But she was also “patient, kind and never dull – she even made Beowulf enjoyable!” one recalls. A dedicated student of the Bible, Sarah taught and inspired Sunday School classes for many years.
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Sarah’s friends and neighbors will always remember her random acts of kindness—helping a sick friend, driving an elderly neighbor to the grocery store, or donating blood to the Red Cross. She also practiced organized acts of kindness.  For 25 years, Sarah owned and operated We Care Animal Haven, a non-profit, no-kill animal shelter, and helped other animal rescue agencies connect lost pets with their owners.

A long-time resident of Watkinsville, Sarah enriched the life of Oconee County with her gifts of time and leadership. She served as President of the Oconee County Historical Society, chair of the Oconee County Republican Party, and citizen representative on committees for future land use planning and park restoration. Sarah inherited a love for plants from her father, and was an active member of the Watkinsville Garden Club.  Oconee Observations blogger Lee Becker remembers Sarah as a dedicated citizen activist who engaged wholeheartedly with civic and political life, but “above all,” he says, “she was caring.”

Sarah’s love for music always involved service. She grew up singing in Atlanta’s First Baptist Church choir and North Fulton High School’s national touring choir. She sang and played the piano for worship in numerous churches, and was a member of the 250-voice Jubalheirs.
Sarah’s musical legacy is perhaps most rich and indelible in the life of the Furman Singers, Furman University’s nationally recognized collegiate choir. Sarah’s leadership and love for Singers began her freshman year, and bears fruit today in the vibrant Furman Singers Alumni Association, of which she was a founding member, and in the successful campaign for an endowed faculty chair for music, which she helped spearhead. Retired Singers director and Emeritus Professor Bingham Vick declares Sarah “a true Singers icon. Her love for Furman Singers was without limit, her leadership and influence without peer.”  Singers on tour in 1976 will never forget that moment in the middle of Salzburg, Austria when Sarah suddenly twirled like Julie Andrews and burst into “the hills are alive!”

Sarah is survived by her sisters Glenda Bell Chastain of Dunwoody, GA (Richard Chastain) and Marie Bell Davis, of Woodstock, GA; by nephews Charles Chastain and Jacob Davis, and her niece-namesake Sarah Davis.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Thursday, January 7, 2021 at 3 p.m., First Baptist Church, Monroe, GA with safe COVID-19 protocols observed.  

To access the live stream of this service, visit HTTPS://WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/FIRSTBAPTISTMONROE or HTTPS://WWW.FBCMONROE.COM/ for more information.  Donations in Sarah’s memory may be sent to Bibles for the World, WWW.BIBLESFORTHEWORLD.ORG, P.O. Box 49759, Colorado Springs, CO 80949. 

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