Sarah Jane Needham

Sarah Jane "Sally" Needham was born in Des Moines, Iowa on December 29, 1922 to Dring DeWitt Needham and Ruth Cline Needham. She passed away peacefully on December 18, 2023 at the age of 100 in Camarillo, California where she was a resident for the last 45 years.

Sally first graduated from Oberlin College with a Bachelor of Music degree, and then earned her master's degree in music at Drake University. After receiving her bachelor's degree, she was moved to use her acute analytical skills to work as a code breaker (Military Cryptanalysis) in the Military Intelligence Division of the U.S. War Department in Arlington, Virginia during World War II. This was crucially important work at the time, which saved countless G.I.'s lives during the war.

After the war, Sally earned her master's degree, studied at Juilliard in New York, and worked in the music field for several years. Then her career took a different turn. She went into education, leading admissions and college counseling divisions in private secondary schools and universities. She spent over two decades working at the Westlake School for Girls (now Harvard-Westlake) helping student's get accepted into elite colleges and universities across the nation. Sally felt great satisfaction at being able to advocate for so many young ladies in this work. Her last position before retirement (at age 85) was with UCLA's Undergraduate Admissions and Outreach Office on a team responsible for making sure that 40,000 college applications submitted annually were read...twice.

Sally was a lifelong member of Mu Phi Epsilon professional music fraternity. She was the recipient of many honors and awards in her educational work, including the prestigious Gayle C. Wilson Award from the National Association of College Admission Counselors.

Sally is survived by her sister, Ruth Mary Crowell, Nephews Lawrence B. Crowell, Steven L. Crowell, and Donald E Crowell, and many grandnephews, grandnieces, great-grandnephews, and great-grandnieces, all of whom have had a great positive impact in their lives by the loving generosity and wisdom that Sally always gave to the whole family.

In lieu of flowers, please feel free to support the educational institution of your choice, since Sally always believed that education was the key to prosperity, civic productivity, and fulfillment in life.