Sarah C. Thomas was born on August 26, 1934, to Lewis Nelson and Pearl C. Nelson in Purcellville, VA.

She attended schools in Loudoun County – Carver Elementary in Purcellville and Douglas High School in Leesburg. Her favorite subject was French. She would share stories of when she would get on the school bus, and she couldn't wait to practice what she learned each day. She was a proud Douglas alumnus.

Sarah worked for the Loudoun Valley Community Center for over two decades. Her supervisor and friend, Mrs. Alice Power, would let her know about upcoming county classes because she knew she would enjoy the training. Later, she took several work-related courses at Northern Virginia Community College. She was honored to receive a County of Loudoun Employee Impact Award. Sarah was kind, strict yet fair with the kids and the adults. They came to the community center for drop-in basketball, pool, ping-pong, tennis and other activities. She tried to build a relationship with people of all ages and was tickled to see the kids and young adults grow up and have kids of their own. Her two favorite events of the year were the Fun Fair and the Christmas Fair. After retiring from the Community Center, she worked as a part-time cafeteria hostess at the Hamilton Elementary and as a pharmacy technician at the Rite Aid in Purcellville before enjoying full retirement.

Trips to the grocery store were never short because we would always run into people Sarah knew from the community center. She enjoyed catching up with people and seeing how they were doing. However, if she was in a hurry, she would gently say, "I'm sorry, I can't talk right now, but we'll talk again soon". Everyone would smile and laugh, and we would quickly be on our way.

Sarah loved being a member of "Gracie" (Grace Annex Methodist Church and Agape Methodist Church). Sarah served as an usher and looked forward to lending a helping hand during church programs.

Nothing was more important to Sarah than family. One of her greatest joys was becoming a grandmother and a great grandmother. She loved sharing stories with her grandchildren about their father when he was a little boy. During the summer, she would bring out the croquet and badminton set, and family (her sister Gloria "Dozie"), friends and neighbors would drop by to play. She loved sports but baseball was her favorite sport. Sarah was a big fan of the New York Yankees. She would get so excited when opening season began. She would wear her New York Yankees cap and keep a scorecard for each game.

Sarah was known for her homemade rolls, succotash, potato salad, caramel cake and pear jam made from the church's pear tree. She was also an avid reader, enjoyed gardening, watching sports and tending to her house plants (thank you Mrs. Sharon Rose).

Sarah leaves to mourn her son Austin (Ann); three daughters, Karen, Marcy and Tina; two grandchildren, Sherell (Drew) and Duane; three great grandchildren, Adara, Tiana and Austin; nephews Michael, Derek and Danniel; niece Jana Trent; best friend Mrs. Vivian Ramey; Cousins Audrey Corbin, Nancy Washington, Frankie Moten and Margaret Green; sisters-in-law Mrs. Rebecca Ramey, Mrs. Francis Summers and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins and friends.

She is preceded in death by her husband Clarence; brothers Ralph Nelson, Carl C. Ferrell, sisters Amanda Gillison, Luola Summers, Gloria Trent.

Thank you, Mama, for your unconditional love, support and when we became adults, your friendship.

Pallbearers: Derek Summers (HP), Derek Summers Jr, Andre Summers, Samuel (Hawk) Corbin, Aaron Summers, Jr., Marvin Summers, Martin Summers, Terry Fairfax (HP)

It was at the request of Mrs. Sarah C. Thomas that there be no repast following the internment.