Sarah Dangerfield

Sarah Dangerfield valued many things throughout her life, but none were more important than creating close relationships with the family she cherished so deeply. She was a loving wife, dedicated mother, proud grandmother, great-grandmother, and great-great-grandmother who gave selflessly to improve the lives of those she loved. Known to the family as “Grandma D.” and “Aunt Jane,” she truly had a compassionate, caring heart and everyone who spent time with her felt the warmth of her presence and embrace.

On June 14, 1923, Frank and Ethel Adkins were delighted to welcome to the world their daughter, Sarah Adkins, who was the youngest of eight children. Her parents nicknamed her Jane. Many have called her “Sarah Jane” throughout the years, although she doesn’t legally have a middle name. Sarah grew up among her siblings; Lizzie, Myrtle, Bertha, Mary, John, Ethel, and Verlie on their family farm in Southern Illinois. Sarah was the baby of the family and much younger than her closest siblings. As a child, she played and had many adventures in the farmyard while her family worked on the farm. One of her favorite activities was chasing the geese. One day, Sarah teased a goose so much by poking it with a stick that the goose became mad, stomped on, and broke its eggs. Sarah said, “Boy, did Mom give me a whippin’!” Another time when Sarah and her sister Ethel had to go to the outhouse, a mean bull on their farm attacked the outhouse with the girls inside! The more Sarah screamed for her mama, the madder the bull became. Finally, her mama heard the commotion and came running to chase the bull away with a pitchfork. For fun, she and her family spent the evenings singing and dancing while her father and brother played the fiddle and mandolin.

Exciting changes were in store for Sarah when she was 15 years old and was riding her bike to town. Her neighbor, Charles, asked if she would give him a ride into town. She said, “If you can hop on, go ahead,” as she kept riding the bike down the road. She said, “That stink pot ran and actually jumped on!” That is when he first asked her out on a date to a dance. At first she said no, but when she got home, her sisters said she better take him up on it because he had a good job at the coal mines and he had a car. So she went out with him.

With a desire to spend the rest of their lives together, Charles and Sarah were married on December 24, 1938 in Perryville, Missouri. They went on to share the best years of their lives together. As a young couple, they lived in Royalton, Illinois. When WWII started, they moved to Oakland, California where Charles was stationed in the Navy. For a short time, Sarah worked in a factory to support the war efforts. After the war, they moved often depending where there was abundant work. During this time, they were blessed with two beautiful daughters, Judith and Saundra, who provided a priceless collection of memories for Sarah. Being a good mother was Sarah’s number one goal in life. She worked inside the home raising her daughters, keeping the house spotless, cooking, and baking. Sarah was a talented cook and made many delicious meals; some of her family’s favorites included her chicken and noodles, coleslaw, banana pudding, and homemade chocolate pie. Eventually they settled in Three Rivers, Michigan where they started enjoying their grandchildren.

Sarah was adamant about going back to school to earn her high school diploma, which she earned after having grandchildren. In her later years, Sarah put her heart and soul into her job as a companion to, Jane, an Alzheimer’s patient for 10 years. She also worked at the church daycare caring for children and enjoyed cooking at McDonalds.

Sarah was an honorable woman of faith and always put God first in her life. She was a member and regular attendee of First Assembly of God Church in Kalamazoo, Michigan. With a life that spanned times of war and times of peace, times of plenty and times of want, Sarah was never one to worry about building wealth or accumulating possessions. Instead, she focused on being a good Christian woman and an example to her children and grandchildren. She once said, “I know what I want to be…I want to be somebody who’s loved and respected and in order to do that, you have to live that way.”

She went on to witness her family tree blossom to include branches of loved ones who were her greatest source of pride and joy to the fifth generation. She had 10 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren, and 13 great-great grandchildren. Sarah put her time and attention into helping to raise and support many of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren throughout the years. “Grandma D.” loved unconditionally and never hesitated to give them advice, clothes, food, money…whatever they needed to be taken care of. If her family was happy, then she was happy.

Although Sarah will be deeply missed, her legacy of compassion and love leaves her family with wonderful memories and a strong foundation to look to for comfort.

Sarah went to be with our Lord on Sunday, July 27, 2014 at the age of 91. Her family includes her children: Judith (Jim) Waters and Saundra (Keith) Gage; grandchildren: Charles (Kathy) Sickles, Saundra (Mike) Furness, Sonne (Marlene) Waters, John (Bridget) Waters, Melinda (Joe) Combs, Robert (Julie) Waters, Barry (Fredrica) Waters, Debbra (Don) Mack, Bryan (Iva) Gage, and Patrick (Sarah) Gage. Sarah was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Odell Dangerfield and her seven siblings. Please visit Sarah’s memory page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you can read her life story, archive a memory or photo and sign her memory book online. To help fight Alzheimer’s Disease, memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer's Association at www.alz.org.