Sara Rebecca Barr

Sara Rebecca Anderson Barr was born on Thursday, June 13, 1929 in Johnson City, Tennessee, daughter of Thomas Bruce Anderson and Laura Celestine Akard Anderson. Her parents raised her on the Anderson farm, some two hundred acres near Kingsport that spanned the bottomland of Reedy Creek, woodland of Orebank, and the short hills near Bancroft Chapel. She often reflected on the joy and formation that roaming these spaces and beyond provided, turning her into a “free-range kid” on foot, horseback, and bicycle. As an only child, she formed bonds with cousins, aunts, and uncles that more than substituted for siblings. Childhood friendships developed into lifelong ones, and new friends emerged throughout her life. Many of these folks visited or called while she was in hospice, and in every case the conversation lifted her spirits and sustained her.

Sara attended Orebank School and graduated from Blountville High School in 1947. In her senior year she served as executive editor of the school yearbook, and the Class Poem she wrote for it both conveys her character and also speaks across time to the reader in 2026. She attended Berea College, majored in biology, and graduated in the class of 1951. During the mid-1950s, she worked various jobs, including driving a bookmobile in Frankfurt, Kentucky, working in Washington, DC for a precursor office to the Environmental Protection Agency, and serving on the clerical staff of Tennessee Eastman Company.

Through her high school friend Pauline (Frances) Barr, Sara knew Pauline’s brother Harold, and in 1957 she and Harold Barr were married. They settled on his family’s land near Blountville and together they operated the farm and raised their four children. While Harold taught in the Sullivan County Schools, Sara served as the de facto farm administrator. She kept careful records of such data as the prices cattle brought at market and the numbers of quarts of green beans she canned in the summers. She was hands-on with work ranging from hefting bales onto a hay wagon to dressing and plucking chickens to turning fruit into preserves. Along with Harold, she was a deeply devoted parent, instilling in her children kindness, curiosity, clarity of communication, and a moral compass. An adventurous and prolific cook, she made dishes as varied as sukiyaki (learned from her Aunt Martha Akard, a missionary in Japan for many years), bagels, and hummingbird cake. In addition, her homemade bread was a favorite among family and friends. Along with her devotion as a spouse, responsibilities as home and farm manager, and child rearer, Sara was for several years the in-home caregiver for her own mother.

She was a lifelong and intrepid reader, her tastes running the gamut from mystery novels to medical textbooks to Appalachian lore. She was also a prolific note- and letter-writer—always one to send a thank-you for a gift or a follow-up to a stop-in. An envelope addressed in her sure hand was an invitation to open and read. In more recent years, she became facile with her smart phone and enjoyed corresponding with both text and photos.

After their nest was empty, she volunteered for several years at Holston Valley Medical Center Blood Bank. With Harold, as members of the Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club, they helped clear brush from and maintain the stretch of the AT near Damascus. Together she and Harold participated in square dancing. To visit children and relatives, they traveled to places around the US—Washington state, Alabama, Tennessee, New York, Colorado, South Carolina, and Florida—and they enjoyed such excursions as a trans-Canadian rail trip and a journey across Scotland.

A person of deep faith, she exemplified it in ways ranging from small acts of kindness—a soda for those working on the farm or a thank-you note for a visit—to the largest of commitments and sacrifice to raise children and care for her mother and, later her husband, in long periods of need. She was a lifelong student of the Bible, a member of Reedy Creek Presbyterian and later Blountville Presbyterian Churches, and a part of fellowship focused on Old and New Testaments. For a time she was a member of an only-child Sunday school class, and for several years was part of Bible Study Fellowship along with friends. Not one often to pray aloud, when she gave a meal blessing, it always contained the phrase, “…we thank thee for friends and for tasks…” one that sums up her gratitude for the love of friends and the challenge and satisfaction of work.

Sara died at home on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 and is predeceased by her husband of sixty-one years, Harold. She is survived by her children Andrew (Hillary) of Seattle, Washington, William (Amy Lee) of Birmingham, Alabama, Margaret of Blountville, Tennessee, and Thomas (Kathryn) of Providence, Rhode Island; and grandchildren Griffin Barr, Sydney Barr, Clarence Barr IV, Virginia Barr, Mary Margaret Barr (Nathan), James Myers, Samuel Myers, Thomas A. Barr (Marika), Elizabeth Barr (Matthew), and Rebecca Barr (Zachary).

The family will receive friends from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at Blountville Presbyterian Church. The funeral service will follow at 12 p.m. with Mary Jane Farmer, CRE officiating.

Burial will follow at Gunnings Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts can be made either to Blountville Presbyterian Church (3400 TN-126, Blountville, TN 37617) or Mount Rogers Appalachian Trail Club (http://mratc.pbworks.com/w/page/8862374/FrontPage).