Sarah Bell Macrae

Mrs. Sarah Watkins MacRae, age 89, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, February 27, 2018 at Maple Leaf Health Care in Statesville.

A memorial service to celebrate her life will be held 10 am Friday, March 2, 2018 at All Saints Episcopal Church with Rev. Nancy Cox officiating. The family will greet friends following the service in the living room.

Mrs. MacRae was born January 24, 1929 in Richmond Co, NC, one of 10 children born to George Franklin and Lizzie Wallace Watkins. She was preceded in death by her husband, William D. “Bill” MacRae, her parents and siblings, Kathleen, Leona, Betty, Charles, AL, RW, Arthur, Bill and Ralph.

Sarah was loved by all who knew her. She grew up in the small town of Ellerbee and moved to Kannapolis in her early teens. She met the love of her life, Bill MacRae, in high school, although he was a Concord High football player and she was from rival A.L. Brown. After high school, Bill and Sarah married and she became a homemaker and mom of three girls. Later she and husband Bill owned The Frame Shop, a small picture framing business they founded and operated in Tega Cay, SC for many years. Sarah also worked for several years during tax season at Mel Jackson Insurance in Charlotte.

Sarah’s favorite place was the beach. She loved to swim and be around the water. She was a certified swim instructor with the American Red Cross and was a frequent volunteer water safety instructor at Camp Thunderbird’s summer program for underserved children. Sarah was an avid bridge player and loved her bridge club friends and activities. An accomplished artist, Sarah excelled in water color and pastel mediums. Always involved in church activities, Bill and Sarah were long time members of All Saints Episcopal Church in Concord as well as founding members of The Church of Today at Tega Cay.

Those left to cherish her memory are her daughters, Barbra Bryan and husband, Gordon of Mooresville, Ellen LaBarge and husband, Ron of Ft. Mill, SC, and Betty MacRae of Lake Wylie, SC; 4 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren; 2 great-great-grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews and a host of other loving relatives and friends who will miss Sarah’s sweet spirit.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to All Saints Fund for the Needy c/o All Saints Episcopal Church, 525 Lake Concord Road, NE, Concord, NC 28025,or to the Alzheimers Association, Western Carolina Chapter, 4600 Park Road, #250, Charlotte, NC 28209 or to the Salvation Army, P.O. Box 511, Concord, NC, 28026-0511.