Sarah Finger Warren

Sarah Finger Warren, or Honey as she was known to her family and friends, died in her one hundredth year on December 20, 2014 at Westminster-Canterbury after a brief illness.  Sarah, the first child and only daughter of Belle Miller Finger and Frederick Eli Finger, was born on October 9, 1915 in Stanley, North Carolina.  Her father was a member of the first class to graduate from the School of Pharmacy at the University of North Carolina and Sarah was thus destined to be a great fan of the basketball and football programs of the University for all of her life.  Growing up in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, Sarah had wonderful memories of her father’s placing a radio outside his drug store so that all might learn of Lindbergh’s crossing the Atlantic and riding her pony into the store for an ice cream cone.   Little would she have been able to imagine a life in which she too crossed the Atlantic by plane and the United States by automobile.

Surviving Sarah are her daughters, Anne Warren Hoskins and Jane Warren Davis, and their husbands, William Hoskins and William Ashby Davis, all of Lynchburg.  She is also survived by her grandchildren Sarah Hoskins Boone (Alex) of Atlanta, Georgia; Lyne Hoskins Dempster (John) of Raleigh, North Carolina; Caroline Davis Malott (Mike), Susannah Davis Cox (Chad), and William Ashby Davis, Jr. (Elizabeth) of Lynchburg.  Sarah is survived as well by her great grandchildren Sallie and Hayden Boone; Ginny and Hampton Dempster; Sam, Janie, and Jack Malott; Gabe and Corinne Cox; and Michael and Ashby Davis.

Sarah was predeceased by her parents; her husband, Harry Calvin Warren; and her brothers, Frederick Eli Finger, Jr., Carl Preston Finger, and Daniel Miller Finger.  She is survived by their children and grandchildren, in whom she took much pride.  A joy in Sarah’s life was the birth of a much loved niece who bore her name, Sarah Virginia Finger Hamrick.  She is also survived by her dear “cuz”, Betty Neisler Timberlake of Lake Waccamaw, North Carolina and Beverley Taylor Vickrey of Charlotte, North Carolina, whom she thought of as her third daughter.

Sarah attended Queens College in Charlotte in the midst of the Great Depression.  At Queens Sarah pledged Alpha Delta Pi Sorority as did three of her granddaughters at other schools.  Leaving college before her initiation, she was proudly initiated into the sorority at UNC at the same time as her granddaughter, Lyne.  After marriage she and Harry lived in Houston, Texas and San Diego, California before returning East to Roanoke and then to Lynchburg.   A great patriot, Sarah proudly wore a flag pin on all appropriate holidays, most especially the Fourth of July.  She was an eighth generation Lutheran and the oldest living member of Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, which she had served for many years.  Members of the clergy and church were friends Sarah held dear.

Sarah was a member of the Oakwood Garden Club and a former member of the Lynchburg Woman’s Club.  She enjoyed a good game of bridge long past her 95th year, always wanting to play “for money” and happiest when she won.  Current events, politics, reading and most especially college sports lit up her life.  Rarely was she without an opinion.  Her family well knew that if anyone could not remember an event, person or date that Honey could without fail.  She loved time at her daughter’s cottage in Duck, North Carolina where she spent many summers with her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.  Honey was known for her cinnamon toast by these children and the children and now grandchildren of her neighbors at Duck.

The family thanks with great gratitude the staff of Westminster Canterbury for their love and support to Sarah and to her family. Centra Hospice and Drs. Eugene Wolanski, William Kittrell and Angela Brady, whose care enhanced the last years and months of Sarah’s life, are also much appreciated.

Sarah Finger Warren had a great life, enjoying each day until just a week before her death with wit and smiles.  The service to celebrate this life will be held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church at 2:00 on Saturday, January 3, 2015 conducted by the Reverend Dennis Roberts.  The family will receive family and friends at a reception after the service at the home of Anne and William Hoskins.  In memory of Sarah memorials may be made to Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 1000 Langhorne Road, Lynchburg, VA 24503.

Tharp Funeral Home, Lynchburg, 434-237-9424, is assisting the family.