Sara E. Ort

CHAMPAIGN - Sara Elizabeth (Martin) Ort passed away on Monday, May 19, 2025, after a three-and-a-half-month battle with an aggressive form of cancer. Sara confronted her illness with the calm, quiet bravery and ever-present sense of humor with which she lived her life. Throughout, Sara maintained her grace, compassion, love of family and friends, and expressed gratitude for her life filled with wonderful people and rewarding experiences. Sara's life centered around family, friends, adventures and living a good and worthwhile life while deeply enriching the lives to all who had the good fortune to know her.

Sara was born in 1949 in Richmond, Va., where she lived with her parents and older brother, Hank, until the family moved to Bucks County, Pa., in 1961. After graduating high school in 1967, Sara attended college at Mary Washington College, where she was a varsity athlete in field hockey and earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics that laid the foundation for her to become a computer scientist with the Army Corps of Engineers in Champaign, the position from which she retired in 2016.

Sara married Don Ort in 1971 and spent the next seven years moving about the country as Don finished his degrees and training before joining the faculty at the University of Illinois in 1978. Sara and Don had two children, Heather (Ort) Jacobson and Eldon Ort, allowing Sara to become Nana to seven grandchildren, whom she cherished and engaged with often in a wide variety of ways.

Sara invested herself in her friends and was rewarded with deep and long-lasting friendships that were central to her happiness and to the happiness of her friends. Her friendships revolved around different aspects of her life. Sara was an avid kayaker and had a group of friends who shared her passion for paddling. Sara was a "gym rat" and, up until just three-and-a-half-months ago, worked out five mornings a week at the No Limit Fitness gym where Eldon is a trainer. There, Sara had another cohort of important friends. 

Sara was an accomplished seamstress, crafting numerous wedding gowns and prom dresses (including her own) as well as countless Halloween and Purim costumes, hemmimg dresses, making alterations and so on. To qualify for Sara's services, you needed only to be her friend (and not be faint of heart when the finishing touches were often made late at night the day before the event!). Sara was also a pet lover and spent countless hours with her closest friend, Kari, walking in nearby parks with Tom (and other Golden Retrievers who proceeded Tom). Sara well understood that lasting and fulfilling friendships took stewardship, at which she was very proactive, never leaving that responsibility to others.

Sara's middle name was Elizabeth, but perhaps it should have been adventure. Sara craved adventure, from dying her hair bright red (after she'd experimented with purple), to white-water rafting on the Nile River in Uganda, to multi-night sailing trips, to scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef, to hot-air ballooning, to name just a few from a much longer list. Perhaps Sara's greatest and bravest adventure was to single handedly take each of her grandchildren after their 16th birthday for a week-plus trip to anywhere in the world they wanted to go. Sara always planned meticulously for each of her adventures, which in combination with her calm and confident demeanor made her adventures exhilarating to be part of while still feeling safe (at least reasonably so).

Sara was an exemplar of a person and one who appreciated all that life offered to her. She emanated friendliness and caring. Hers was a life well lived.

There will be a celebration of Sara's life at the No Limit Fitness (nolimitmahomet.com/) gym on June 18, from 4:30 to 7 p.m.

The most important way to honor Sara is your personal remembrance of her. If you wish to do something more tangible, please consider a donation to Eastern Illinois Food Bank (eifoodbank.org/action/donate/ad-gift1.html ) in Sara's name, as this was her go-to charity.

Condolences may be offered at morganmemorialhome.com.