Sara A. Hillyard of Chester passed at Genesis Health Care in White Sulfur Springs, WV. on Tuesday, December 15, 2020.
Sara lived 97 good years and was the last of that generation of the Hillyard family. The oldest of three children born to the late Alvin H. Hillyard Sr. and Henrietta Harrison Hillyard, she was born on the family farm near Chester on February 5, 1923.
Sara lived nearly her entire life on the Hillyard Farm, managing business affairs, delivering plants all over West Virginia, and any other chore that needed to be done. She was tough and uncompromising, but she loved in a way that caused you to appreciate her steadfast family loyalty. She had moved to Buckeye, West Virginia a few years ago with her niece, Patty Hillyard. Sara had worked almost forty years as a business accountant for Miller, Stacey, and Associates in East Liverpool where she became very proficient with some of the very first accounting software and was often called upon to train other accounting firms. After retiring, she continued working, first for Dr. Frank Bragg, and later for Attorney Jerry Linger in Chester. Also, Sara was a lifelong member of the Chester First United Methodist Church.
Along with her parents, she was preceded in death by her brothers, Alvin. H. (Bud) Hillyard Jr., and William (Bill) Hillyard.
Although not a mother herself, she was the matriarch of the family. Sara had several nieces and nephews that were like her own children, Jenny Dotson, Mary Woofter, Donna Cameron, Ellen Manypenny, Patty Hillyard, and Bill Hillyard Jr., as well as several great-nieces and nephews who will fondly cherish memories of family dinners and holiday gatherings on the family farm.
Due to the current health crises, a memorial service will be announced and held at a date yet to be determined. Assistance is being provided by the Arner Funeral Chapel in Chester.