Sarah Berryhill Rice

Sarah Jane (Berryhill) Rice passed away on September 12, 2023, in Lubbock, Texas. A graveside funeral service will be held on Saturday, September 16, 2023, at 10 a.m. at Griffin Leggett Rest Hills Funeral Home and Rest Hills Memorial Park in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Her family will be presiding.

Sarah was born on May 18, 1940, to James Berryhill and Odessa Berryhill Droegmiller in Pulaski, Tennessee, and grew up in Lawrenceburg and Nashville, Tennessee. She was married to her husband Joel (Jim) Rice for 40 years until his death in 2003. They met on a blind date, which did not go well, but a second chance led to a life-long love. Together they raised two children, Joel and Samantha. For most of their married life, Sarah was a homemaker, but later she supported her husband, an Edward Jones broker, as his Branch Office Administrator.

Sarah was a devoted wife and mother, always placing her family’s needs above her own. Her life goal was to show love toward her husband, children, and her seven grandchildren. She rarely missed an opportunity to support her grandchildren in their various activities by attending or hearing the play-by-play. Sarah enjoyed playing games and working on puzzles with her grandchildren and her friends. Sarah was a memory maker and her grandchildren can take comfort in knowing they were loved and valued by their grandmother.

Jim and Sarah lived in many places together, including Athens, Alabama; Titusville, Florida; Charlotte, North Carolina; Palestine, Texas; and El Dorado, Arkansas. In each place, they became part of church families, working together to serve the Lord and to serve others. Faith was the cornerstone of their relationship and family, and their love for God was always on display. After Jim’s death, Sarah lived with her daughter Samantha and her family in Abilene, Texas and Lubbock, Texas.

In addition to her parents and husband, Sarah was preceded in death by her sisters Lena Mae Durham and Georgia Dunnavant, and her brothers Jasper Berryhill, Thomas Berryhill, Jimmy Berryhill, and Bobby Joe Berryhill.

Those left to cherish her memory are her two children, Joel Rice and his wife Shannon of North Little Rock, Arkansas; Samantha Rice Murray and her husband Jon of Lubbock, Texas; her seven grandchildren, Ethan McGee and his wife Addison, Abby Rice, Jonah Murray, Gracie Murray, Nathan Murray, Jonathan Murray, and Jacob Murray; a sister Geri Clifton along with loved nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be sent to the Texas Girls and Boys Ranch in Lubbock, Texas, or to Green Lawn Church of Christ missions in Lubbock, Texas.

The family would like to thank Dr. Kerry Hendershot for the excellent care and love shown to Sarah. The family would also like to express appreciation for the nurses and physical therapists from Direct Home