Sara Mitchell

Tupelo - Sara Frances Mitchell, 94, died Friday, January 23, 2009, at her residence in Tupelo after an extended illness. A Tupelo Native, she was born March 2, 1914, the daughter of Guy Mitchell, Sr. and Rosa Rogers Mitchell. She graduated from Tupelo High School in 1932, and then went on to Mississippi State College for Women(MUW) where she graduated in 1936, with a degree in elementary education. Graduate work was pursued at Columbia University in New York, and the University of Virginia. Her fifty plus years teaching career included schools in Amory, Corinth, Clarksdale, Tupelo, and Natchez. While living in Natchez she taught and served as principal of both the Natchez-Adams County Schools and the Adams County Christian School. At her retirement, the Adams County Christian School honored her for her distinguished career in education by naming the school library the Sara Frances Mitchell Library She was an advocate for education of young children and a champion of pre-school education. Her students and colleagues will remember her as a dedicated educator. She avidly followed the careers of her former students and was always proud of their achievements. She enjoyed traveling extensively and was a lifelong faithful member of First United Methodist Church in Tupelo.

Services will be 1 p.m. Monday at First United Methodist Church in Tupelo with Rev. Andy Ray, Rev. Jimmy Criddle and Rev. Raigan Miskelly officiating. Burial will be in Verona Cemetery. W. E. Pegues Funeral Directors is in charge of the arrangements.

Survivors include three nieces, Rose Cunningham Trigg and husband, Jerry, of Colorado Springs, Col., Nina Cunningham Redding and husband, Ed, of Jackson, and Sarah Cunningham Gay of Tucson, Ariz.; one nephew, Guy Mitchell, III, and wife, Susan, of Tupelo; nine great-nieces and nephews; 18 great-great-nieces and nephews; the David Deterly family of Arlington, Tex.; many loyal friends and neighbors; and her caregivers.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Lorinne Cunningham and her brother, Guy Mitchell, Jr.

Pallbearers will be Britt Rogers, Jamison Rogers, Merrill Johnston, Dr. John Kenney, B.B. Hosch, Dr. Mitch Massey, Bruce Smith, Henry Dodge, and E. L. Ernie Joyner, III.

Visitation will be in the Gathering Room at First United Methodist Church noon until service time Monday.

Memorials may be made to Sara Frances Mitchell Education Endowment Fund, C/O Create, PO Box 1053 Tupelo MS 38802; or a favorite charity of the donor's choice.