Obituary of Sarah Pitts Lockett Lineberger

Sarah Lockett Lineberger, nee Sarah Mae Oliver Pitts Lockett Lineberger, was born on November 20, 1918 and departed this life on Saturday April 13, 2013. Sarah was born in Wilkinson County Georgia. She was the fifth child of the late Oliver Ebenezer and Annie Evelyn Rice Pitts, and the granddaughter of Dave and Martha Pitts and Griffin and Sarah Bradley Rice. She had four brothers: Griffin David, Isaac Nelson, Cornelius Ruben, and Joseph Bishop. All of her brothers are deceased except Joseph. She had two sisters, both deceased, Mozzell Smith and Margaret Etta Pitts Brown.

She grew up on her parents' farms in central Georgia. Sarah received all of her education in public and private schools, including Ballard-Hudson High School, Macon Georgia and Beta Etta College in Georgia. As a child, she was a member of the 4H Club and Future Farmers of America. She won first prize in a sewing contest for dress making. Her sewing and cooking classes as a child equipped her with skills and hobbies that put her in good stead for the rest of her life. She would later make many of her seven children's clothes, create a career in food services, and cook for friends, community groups, church functions, and the sick and shut in. No doubt she is most famous for her Georgia biscuits, candied sweet potatoes, and the woman who could do anything with a peach and sweet potato!

On June 14, 1942 she married Clarence Webster Lockett. To this marriage, God blessed them with Mickey Evon Alston (James), Patricia Ann Cavener (Bernard), Griffin David (Mildred), Agnes Deborah Matison (Ren), Alfred Dennis, Guysen Webster (Sonya) and Karen Suzetta Bailey (Ernest).

At her mother's strong request, she left her home in Macon, Georgia to accompany her parents to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in November 1946 to help them escape the difficulties and oppression of the rural South and have a better life. She made this journey with three small children, the youngest only two months old. This was to have been a temporary move that became permanent; consequently she never moved back to her beloved Georgia.

As a military wife with seven children, she did not travel with her husband. Instead, as many wives did at that time, she maintained the home while the military service member served around the world. Her role was to nurture, educate, and raise her children and provide a safe haven for her family. She worked until their first child was born and returned to work after the birth of her youngest child. She had to overcome countless and unimaginable obstacles to survive and ensure the security and prosperity for her family. Her abiding faith in God, love for her family, and sheer determination were her constant motivators.

Her parents would again relocate, this time to California during several intervening years after living in Philadelphia for many years. Later, at their desperate request, she went to California and brought them back to Philadelphia to live out their lives in her caring, safe and loving home. Sarah, her husband Henry, and her children took care of them in her home until their death.

After a full military career and retirement, Clarence departed this life on December 22, 1970. Sarah married Henry Lineberger and their love and devotion grew and flourished. After a lengthy illness and despite remarkable, skilled, and loving care throughout his illness, Henry departed this life on October 24, 1994. To almost all of the grandchildren he was the only grandfather they knew; and he loved them as his own.

Sarah was a determined and strong advocate of education. As a concerned mother, she taught all of her children, including some of the neighborhood children, to be persons of caring, service, determination, independence, love, and to strive to be the best that they could be and to enjoy their life each day God blesses them to be here. She accepted the responsibility of passing on to her children the culture and traditions of their heritage. She was always a strong community leader and activist. As a member of the community, she was a den mother for the Cub Scouts and a scout mother for Boy Scout Troop 166 in Elmwood, Philadelphia, and she became the neighborhood mother to many children and young adults wherever she resided. She was outspoken. She remained active in the Church of the Messiah, Reformed Episcopal serving as President of the Missionary Society and President of the Women's Club.

During her long illness, she was particularly blessed to be cared for in the home of her youngest daughter and son-in-law, Karen and Ernest Bailey. Karen and Patricia and their families especially provided great and selfless care and comfort throughout her illness. The family is very grateful for her loving, devoted, and very competent care giver of over seven years, Mona Maria Williams and assisted by Antoinette Gopaul-Williams who made her final years as comfortable as possible with extremely personal, patient, and loving care.

To continue her legacy and cherish her memory are her: seven children, thirteen grandchildren, seven great grandchildren, and one great, great, grandchild.

Services will be held on April 20, 2013; Visitation: 8:30AM - 9:30AM. Funeral Service: 9:30AM - 10:30AM @ St. Paul's Episcopal Church 7809 Old York Road Elkins Park, PA 19027. Burial to follow at Rolling Green Memorial Park, 1008 West Chester Pike, West Chester, PA 19382. A Repast will follow the burial at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Jay Cooke Hall, 7809 Old York Road, Elkins Park, PA 19027.

In leiu of flowers, donations may be made to: Mattie Dixon Community Cupboard 150 Main St. Ambler, PA 19002 or Philadelphia Cares for the Aging (PCA), PCA Emergency Fund, 642 N. Broad St. Philadelphia, PA 19130