Sarah Rainey 1919-2021
Sarah Ellen Rainey, 101, went to the Lord on July 10, 2021, at her SeniorCare Home in Overland Park after a long and fruitful life.
Sarah was born on Nov. 19, 1919, in Goff, the youngest of the four surviving children of John Sherman and Hettie “Edith” Barnes Sourk. Sarah graduated from Goff Rural High School in 1937, then attended The University of Kansas and later Washburn University, where she received her M.A. Ed. degree in 1968.
Sarah was preceded in death by her husband, Herman Edward Rainey (1973); former husband, Kenneth E. Wiggins (1994); daughters, Donna Rainey (1998) and Betty Rainey Snair (2017); son-in-law, Terry Odle (2021); parents, John Sourk (1932) and Edith Sourk (1962); and siblings, infant Hazel May Sourk (1902), Orville Sourk (1971), Gerald Sourk (1991) and Ruth Sourk Callahan (2008).
Sarah is survived by her son, Timothy Wiggins (Eileen), Mt. Zion, Ill.; her daughter, Trudy Stegelman Odle, Overland Park; son-in-law, Robert Snair, Scottsdale, Ariz.; eight grandchildren, Jennifer Durand (David), Decatur, Ill., Jason Wiggins (Susan), Bloomington, Ill., Jeff Stegelman, Seattle, Wash., Heather Stegelman Wurdeman (Gabe), Osage City, Stephanie Snair Vredenburgh (Larry), Tehachapi, Calif., Diana Snair Thomas (Tim), Mesa, Ariz., Penelope Snair Izaak (Yilmaz), Rolla, Mo., and Eric Snair (Kristen), Glendale, Ariz.; 16 great-grandchildren; and three great-great-grandchildren.
Sarah is remembered as a loving family member and for her lifelong devotion to teaching and educational professionalism. She began teaching in 1939 in a one-room school near the family homestead, and later at Goff and Centralia Elementary Schools in Nemaha County. The family later moved to Topeka, where she taught in the Shawnee Heights School District in Tecumseh from 1965 until her retirement in 1984, where she was voted district Master Teacher and was nominated for the State Master Teacher award.
She was also an active member of the Town and Country Christian Church since 1968. Throughout her life, she had a wide range of interests that enriched her life, her relationships and her teaching. She served as president and in various leadership roles in multiple church, community and professional organizations. She happily drove, participated in her church and organizations, maintained her home, mowed her lawn and tended her flowers into her 90s.
Services for Sarah will be held Tuesday, July 20 at Penwell-Gabel Funeral Chapel, 1321 S.W. 10th Ave., Topeka, KS 66604. Visitation will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. A celebration of life will be held at 11 a.m. Graveside services will follow the ceremony at Mount Hope Cemetery, 4700 S.W. 17th St.
Flowers may be sent to Penwell-Gabel and/or donations to the Town and Country Christian Church, 4925 S.W. 29th St., Topeka, KS 66614, www.tccchurch.org, or Kansas City Hospice, 12000 Wornall Rd., Kansas City, MO 64145, www.kchospice.org. See complete obituary and pictures at the following link, www.penwellgabeltopeka.com
(PAID OBITUARY)
