Sarah Boice

Sarah (Sally) Boice was born Sarah Louisa Smoker in Columbia, PA. The daughter of Harold, a pharmacist, and Catherine, a homemaker, she was a bright child who excelled in school. She had two brothers, Frank and Dick. She enjoyed working in her father’s drug store serving ice cream and making soda fountain drinks. The whole family was active in church activities at Cookman Methodist.

Sara Lou went on to study Art Education at Kutztown State Teachers’ College. It was there she met fellow art student Harry Bentz, whom she later married. Sally and Harry, who were both art teachers, raised three children – Holly, Tom, and Heather. The family moved from Columbia to Reading to Shippensburg, where Sally taught art at Shippensburg High School. She earned her Masters and Doctorate degrees in Education, and was the art supervisor of Carlisle School District when she retired.

Following her divorce she married her second husband, Charles Frazier Phillips, a realtor from New Jersey. The two of them gardened and sang in choirs together. They traveled in the US and overseas. They purchased one of the first cottages on the grounds of Luther Ridge. Sally Phillips enjoyed a close relationship with Frazier’s daughter Helen, husband Jeff and their son Jacob, and son Chip and his wife Amy.

When Frazier passed away Sally married a third time. James Boice was a retired minister from Virginia who had also recently lost a spouse. The two of them met in their late seventies on E-Harmony. Sarah and Jim enjoyed travel and life at the cottage, often engaging in political and spiritual debates. They were members of the Unitarian Universalist church in Boiling Springs. Jim survives and is a resident of the Inn at Luther Ridge.

Sally will be remembered by all as a creative spirit, accomplished artist, avid gardener and talented interior designer. She continued to enter and win art shows nearly to the end of her life, and was most proud that all of her children had chosen careers in creativity and the arts. She loved to make her home beautiful inside and out, and was often featured in home and garden tours. She was fiercely independent and tenacious, traits which served her well as she battled heart disease much of her adult life resulting from rheumatic fever as a child.

Sarah Smoker Bentz Phillips Boice was preceded in death by her parents F. Harold and Catherine Smoker, her brothers Frank and Richard, and her second husband Charles Frazier Phillips. She is survived by her husband James Boice, her children Holly (Gene), Tom (Patti) and Heather (Curt), her step children Helen (Jeff) and Chip (Amy), her step children Jay (Christine) and Libby. She will be sadly missed by her grandchildren Emily, Leslie, Erica, Evan, Jacob, Lydia, Addie, E.J., Michael, Stephanie, Marisa and Nathan. She shared a loving bond with her nieces and nephews, her brothers and sisters-in-law and their extended families. She reserved a special place in her heart for her many caring friends and caregivers, and her beloved cat, Callie.

Never wanting anyone to make a fuss over her, Sally did not want a funeral. Instead, she wanted a party. A celebration of her life will be organized by her children and announced at a later date. Those who wish to make a donation in her name may do so to Habitat for Humanity.