Sarah Alice Gentry was born March 4, 1928 to Thomas Jefferson Soil and Stella Mae French in Stephens, MO. She was preceded in death by her parents, three brothers, Theodore Soil, George Soil and Thomas Soil and two sisters, Theodosia Burrell and Nadine Williams. Because her father was a Methodist minister, the family moved frequently and Sarah lived in several small Missouri towns during her childhood. She graduated from Dalton High School in Dalton, Missouri.
After graduating from high school, Sarah moved to Kansas City, Missouri where she met Edwin R Gentry. They were married on October 28, 1950. They had one daughter, Karen E Gentry. Sarah and Edwin were married for 60 years until the death of Edwin in November 2010, approximately two weeks after their anniversary. They had celebrated their 25th anniversary at a reception at Stadium Inn in Independence, Missouri. They both enjoyed traveling and on their 50th anniversary they celebrated by going on a Western Caribbean cruise with family and friends. They went on several other cruises over the years including two to Alaska. In addition to traveling, Sarah liked reading, playing cards and other games.
Sarah loved her family and they loved her. She was always happy to have children around her and it was not unusual for her to have nieces, nephews and cousins at her house especially during the holidays. She often referred to her nephew, Glenn B. Smith as her "number one son." He came to live with them when he went to high school because he preferred to go to school in Kansas City instead of Chicago. He became Karen's "big brother."
Most of Sarah's working career was with the federal government. She worked for Internal Revenue for a few years and then went to work at Social Security. She retired from there in 1985 after more than 30 years in government service.
Sarah accepted Christ as her Savior at an early age and was faithful until the end. She read her Bible and knew it well. She joined Covenant Presbyterian Church in 1977 where she served as a deacon. For many years, she participated in the yearly bake sales and helped with Bible school in different capacities as needed. She helped in a reading program for children at the church and found it very rewarding.
Sarah is survived by her daughter, Karen Gentry-Strickland (Foyce) of Lee's Summit, Glenn B Smith Sr. of Grandview, MO, Van Soil (Ruth), Verne Soil (Aprill) and Mark Foster (Patricia) of Chicago II. She is also survived by great nieces, great nephews and cousins and friends.
Sarah was buried in Mount Moriah Cemetery after a graveside service on May 15, 2021.
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