Sara Morris

"Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty! Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee," begins Sara's favorite hymn. An early riser all her life, Sara loved the idea of her prayers rising heavenward each day. She even kept a copy of the hymn in a small box with other photos and mementos. At the bottom of that copy she wrote "the song I like best."

Sara Martha Morris, 92, formerly of New Philadelphia, passed away peacefully on Monday, March 16, 2026, at Crystal Care Center of Mansfield. After a long and courageous battle with Alzheimer's disease, she is now at rest.

Sara was born December 6, 1933, at the family farmhouse in Jewett, Ohio, to the late Charles Willard Stephen and Esther (Tuckosh) Stephen.

A farm girl from the beginning, Sara wasn't a stranger to hard work. When war came and there were no farmhands, the children had to pitch in. She helped her mother cook while her sisters and brother did farm chores, and those early lessons stayed with her. Sara became an excellent home chef, known for homemade chicken noodle soup from scratch, bean dishes, Christmas bread, Hungarian krullers, pizzelle, and poinsettia cookies. Once married, she also wanted chickens of her own-little black banty hens. Sara liked to quote her father, "As the family farmer goes, so goes the country."

Sara worked as a food service manager for Head Start. She had graduated from Jewett High School and remained socially- and community-minded throughout her life. She was a member of the Child Conservation League (CCL) which was a state organization based on the belief that children are a nation's "most valuable assets and its least conserved." She was active in church life, including the First Christian Church of New Philadelphia, and a member of The Wilderness Center in Wilmot and the Red Hat Society "gang." She served for years as an Ohio voter poll worker, was a fervent supporter of the Democratic Party, and forever admired FDR.

She married Leonard Gene Morris, "Lenny," on July 12, 1952. They made a loving and charming, warm home in a neighborhood with other families where their children played on the Center Strip, up at the pond, and on picnic days would chat with their neighbors past sunset - sitting around the bonfire while their kids caught fireflies. The family went to church every Sunday and more often than not kept a family dog. Lenny & Sara were as American as apple pie and easily carved out their slice of the American dream.

Sara will be remembered as an independent woman, and someone who liked beautiful shoes, even when the pair she wanted was a size too small (though it taught her how a foolish decision can have lifelong consequences). She would often quote Eleanor Roosevelt, saying, "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." And no one could make Christmas as magical as Grandma Sara.

She is survived by two of her three children: Thomas "Tom" Morris with wife Michelle of New Philadelphia, Ohio and Leonora Wernecke with husband James "Jim" of Lexington, Ohio; her grandchildren including David's sons Lucas Morris, Andrew Morris (Carolyn) and Leonora's children Candace Bonnis (Pete), Meredith Wallace (Ben), Dantan Wernecke (Hannah), Stephen Wernecke (Jessy); great-grandchildren Maddax Morris, Fiona Morris, Scarlett Morris, Athena Bonnis, Elise Wallace, Evelyn Wallace, Jax Wallace; and step-great-grandchild Saphria Resende; and those who will remember her as a woman of strong opinions, practical skill, and deep-rooted habits formed early and kept for life.

Preceded in death were: Lenny in 2010, her son David James Morris in 1984, a sister Esther "Toody" Reeves, her brother James W. Stephen, and a step-grandson Zachary Hardgrove.

Friends may call Wednesday, March 25, 2026, from 11 am to 12 noon at Snyder Funeral Homes, Marion Avenue Chapel, 350 Marion Avenue, Mansfield (419-525-4411). Pastor Jim Borton will officiate the funeral service beginning at 12 noon. Music selected for the service includes Holy, Holy, Holy. Cremation will follow. Burial at a later date will lay her to rest beside her Lenny in East Avenue Cemetery at New Philadelphia.

Her family wishes to thank the team at Crystal Care for caring for her even when she could not say "thank you" herself. It's fitting to end her obituary the way Sara ended every prayer: "Lord, help us be mindful of others."