Sara Bittenbender

Sara Cram Bittenbender died Friday, April 22, 2016, at Brookhaven in Lexington. She was 97. The funeral will be at 10:00 am, Thursday, May 12, at the Church of Our Redeemer (Episcopal), 6 Meriam St., Lexington, followed by a reception at the church and 1:30 pm burial at Newton Cemetery. All are welcome; hats encouraged in her honor. The widow of Robert Austin Bittenbender who died in 1970, she was the daughter of Robert Jackson Cram and Constance (Southworth) Cram. She leaves a daughter, Sandra S. Bittenbender of Natick; a son, Robert Piehler Bittenbender and wife Margaret Huber of Windham, Maine; granddaughter, Constance S. Ferguson and husband Brian A. Ferguson of Framingham; two great-grandchildren, Olivia S. and Jackson B. Ferguson; and a number of nieces and nephews. She grew up in Waban, graduated from Newton High School in 1936 and was active in the Parish of the Good Shepherd. Her household adopted a succession of dogs that she brought home by train from the Animal Rescue League of Boston. After marriage in 1940 she and her husband moved to Buffalo, returning to Waban after World War II. They moved to Lexington in 1955. From the late 1960s until retirement in 1984 she worked at Draper Lab in Cambridge. Active in reunion planning for her husbands MIT class of 1940, she was made an Honorary Alumni Association member in 2010. An avid figure skater, she continued cross-country skiing into her 80s. She enjoyed strolling around Meriam Hill where she lived until moving to Brookhaven in 2007. On request at a moments notice she wrote touching and silly poems for all occasions. At the Church of Our Redeemer, she took charge of Soup Luncheons known far and wide. They helped the hungry-homeless of Greater Lexington and her secret Shepherds Pie recipe always garnered applause at Bristol Lodge in Waltham. She was the central force behind church rummage sales eventually named in her honor. Besides her husband, Mrs. Bittenbender was predeceased by her brother, Robert Jackson Cram Jr. and her nephew Nicholas. Notable ancestors include Constant Southworth, a prominent figure in the Plymouth Colony; Josiah Bartlett, second signer of the Declaration of Independence; Native American, Polly Dockum of NH and Oliver Cromwell. Remembrances suggested to Animal Rescue League of Boston; Parish of the Good Shepherd, Waban, Church of Our Redeemer, Lexington, Chapel Hill-Chauncy Hall School in Waltham. Arrangements by Douglass Funeral Home, Lexington.