Sara Sage
Sara sang in the tenor section with Seaford Choral Society for many years. She often came early to help put out the chairs. A shy, gentle person, her face lit up when she talked about her family, telling me proudly that her son was a doctor and her daughter worked for an environmental energy charity.
Born in Kent, her childhood was also spent in Barrow, Oxford and the Lake District as her father was a priest. Musically talented, she achieved Grade 8 in both violin and piano and did a music degree at Leeds University and postgraduate teaching certificate. However, her first job in a boarding school convinced her that teaching was not for her.
When her father retired, her parents moved to Seaford and Sara followed them. She joined the library service, working first in Brighton but then her dream job came up: in charge of the music library in Lewes. Here, she first met Peter who worked for the library service as part of their computer team and also lived in Seaford. Sara had bought a flat here and soon asked Peter for a lift to Lewes. The rest is history. They were engaged in 1993 and married at St. Leonard's Church. Their first house was in Richmond Road. Adam was born in 1994 and Cathy two years later.
Sara loved being a mum and worked as a dinner lady at Annecy School so she could be close to her children. Here she organised concerts with Graham Tubb so the children could gain confidence in performing before an audience. Graham remembers how important Sara's contribution was with one child going on to study at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and another becoming a ballet dancer.
Sara played violin in the Eastbourne Concert Orchestra and in the Eastbourne Symphony Orchestra and sometimes sang in the choir at St. Leonard's. Apart from music, she enjoyed playing table tennis in a club with Peter, she went skiing with her children, she played Scrabble and loved to take Lexie for walks with a dog walking group.
Maggie, a member of the choir and neighbour of Sara's remembers her great kindness.
"She was an example to me of mothering. I used to tell her that I wished I was a tiny bit as good a mother as she was. Patience and constant encouragement and reassurance was her norm. We spent so many hours on the beach talking about our children. We were so lucky to know her we really were.
I moved house 24 years ago 2 days before my daughter was born. My son was 3 and my husband was working away in Nepal so I was doing it all myself. I arrived quite exhausted with the removal men and no sooner had I walked in there was the kindest most welcoming person standing on my doorstep smiling and welcoming me and offering me a cup of tea. It was Sara, my lovely neighbour who went on to be our friend and our families grew up together. Her son Adam and daughter Cathy were, and still are, great friends to my children. We had so many parties and swims in the sea, kayaks, beach fun and picnics. Sara helped both my children through their music exams by playing piano accompaniment and teaching theory. She was always so gentle and encouraging with them. She used to arrange concerts at st Leonard's Church where she would invite local children who were doing their grades to come and perform. These concerts were a fantastic opportunity for children to get performance experience and to enjoy themselves. Sara was so kind to my elderly parents and they loved chatting with her. Kindness is how I remember Sara and how she and her husband Peter brought up their children to be the same thoughtful, kind and gentle people. We did the teas together one term at choir and we used to giggle as we scoffed a biscuit down before everyone else arrived at the counter. Eating biscuits we agreed was the easiest part of choir practice."
