Sarah Schutt Harrison

1937 - 2022

HARRISON, Sarah Schutt, born in 1937, died unexpectedly October 30, 2022. She was the daughter of Charles Porter Schutt and Phyllis Moxham duPont and was the eldest of four children, all who predeceased her. Sarah, or Sally as she was known to friends and family, was born in Wilmington, Delaware and was educated at the Tower Hill School, The Ethel Walker School and Bennett Junior College. In 1958, after briefly working in Washington, D.C., she married to Preston Harrison of Petersburg, Virginia. They first lived in Charles City County, west of Jamestown between the James River and Chickahominy River, and then moved to the city of Richmond. After having four children, Phyllis, Renée, Aimée and Scott, they divorced. She continued to raised her children in Richmond, where she practiced interior design and photography. After her children were grown, she returned to the city where she was born and settled in Greenville, Del.

Sally had many passions. She was an enthusiastic traveler who enjoyed visiting historic cities and gardens around the world. At home, she spent countless hours over 17 years with landscape architect Keith Adams, her "aide-de-camp," planning the formal garden at her house. She was an avid equestrian in her youth who loved to ride with the hounds with the Deep Run Hunt Club in Manakin Sabot, Virginia. She also loved horseracing and steeplechase riding and could always be counted on to attend Winterthur's Point to Point races and the Virginia Gold Cup. She loved conversation and was greatly admired by her children's friends for her youthful enthusiasm. Above all else, she was devoted to her family and the traditions that would gather the extended family together.

Sally was generous to a fault. She gave her support to countless charitable organizations such as Canine Partners for Life, Historic Richmond Foundation, Hagley Museum and Library, the Brandywine River Museum and Conservancy, Winterthur, Longwood Gardens and numerous veterans organizations. She also highly valued education and gave generously to all of her grandchildren's schools such as Woodberry Forest, St. Christopher's School, the Hill School, The Phelps School and the St. Catherine's School. She was a member of the Mayflower Society and she was a Delaware Colonial Dame. She was an active member of the Vicmead Hunt Club, the Country Club of Virginia and the Deep Run Hunt Club.

She is survived by three of her four children and their spouses, Phyllis Éluethéra Ballantine, Renée duPont Harrison and her husband, Mason Hammond Drake and Scott Preston Harrison and his wife, Reed Harwell Harrison. Her youngest daughter, Aimée Porter Harrison, died in 2017. She is also survived by six grandchildren, Eugene Thompson Ballantine, Preston Riker Ballantine, Elijah duPont Drake, Mason Harrison Drake, McKelvey Ewing Harrison and Harwell Samuel Harrison.

On November 6, 2022, a private service was held in the duPont Chapel in Greenville, Delaware. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to Canine Partners for Life, a Pennsylvania non profit organization dedicated to training service dogs for individuals with a range of disabilities.

For online condolences, visit Chandlerfuneralhome.com.