Sarah Jane "Sasa" (Lawrence) Austin

At the beginning of February 1937, two things arrived in Cincinnati, Ohio that were long remembered. The first was the great flood of 1937 as it came to be known. The other was a baby girl named Sarah Jane Lawrence. Her father Carson Lawrence had to row his pregnant wife Joy to the hospital in a small boat through the flooded streets. Sarah always loved the fact that she came in with a great storm.

After Cincinnati the family moved to Cedar Rapids, Houston, Denver, and finally Lufkin where she resided the remainder of her life. Along the way, the family grew to include siblings Don, Pat, and Karen.

1955 saw Sarah graduate from Lufkin High School, and in the fall of that year she headed off to East Texas Baptist College in Marshall, Texas. In 1959 she received her Bachelor’s degree in education. In the fall of that year she began her teaching career with the Diboll ISD.

Shortly after school started that year, at the end of November, she married Robert Lee Austin. The very next year son Michael Robert was born.

She then moved to the Lufkin ISD where she remained until her retirement in 2003 after 42 years of teaching. Most of those 42 years were spent at Slack Elementary, where she was an original staff member. Through her decades of teaching, she touched the lives of thousands of students. She loved seeing them around Lufkin and hearing about their lives. More often than not, “You were my favorite teacher” was uttered.

She was a member of the Lufkin Pilots Club, a service organization for women where she served as President in 1974-75. She was a member of First Baptist Church Lufkin for nearly 80 years, and served as the FBC pianist for 25 of those. After she stepped down from that, she played piano at various churches that needed her services. She was an avid reader and did volunteer work for the Kurth Memorial Library. She loved to travel, do needlepoint and crochet, along with scrapbooking.

She was preceded in death by her husband Robert, her parents Carson and Joy, and brother Pat. Survivors are her son Michael, brother Don, sister Karen and husband Pat Foley, sister in law Milva Lawrence, nieces and nephews Joe & Jill Still, Todd Foley, Todd & Jan Kelsey, Ryan & Chris Foley, Eddy & Barbara Thompson, and Felicia Pulaski. Great nieces and nephews are Preston, Carson and Joe Evan Still, Mackenzie, Lexi, Hannah, Scarlet and Maisie Foley, Parker and Connor Kelsey and numerous other family members and cousins.

Pallbearers – Todd Foley, Ryan Foley, Joe Still, Todd Kelsey, Mike Akridge, and Mike Richmond.

Honorary Pallbearers – Don Lawrence, Pat Foley, Bill Lawrence, Ray Carswell, Jerry Hennington, Donald Menshew, and Dr. Douglas Prewitt.

Visitation will be held from 5–7 PM Friday, October 2 ^nd in The Reich Chandler Grand Hall at First Baptist Church Lufkin.

A burial service will be conducted at 9 AM, Saturday October 3 ^rd at The Old Palestine Cemetery in Alto.

A Memorial Service will follow at 11 AM, Saturday October 3 ^rd , in the sanctuary at First Baptist Church Lufkin.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to either – First Baptist Church Lufkin Building Fund, 106 E. Bremond Avenue, Lufkin, Texas 75901, Footbridge Foundation at www.footbridgefoundation.org, Kurth Memorial Library, 706 S. Raguet Street, Lufkin, Texas 75904, or The Joseph House, P.O. Box 150554, Lufkin, Texas 75915.

The October 3 ^rd , 2020 11 AM Memorial Service will be livestreamed @ https://vimeo.com/463210557

Memories and condolences may be added at www.carrowayfuneralhome.com.

Carroway Funeral Home, Lufkin, directors.