Obituary of Sara Lee Redmond

Sara Lee Redmond was born in Montgomery Alabama August 14, 1919. Her father and mother, Cleve and Dimple owned a plantation in Ft. Deposit Alabama where Sara Lee grew up. Sara Lee adored her mother who she claimed was the most beautiful and talented artist and musician she ever knew. She attended Auburn University where she met the love of her life, John Redmond Jr. John joined the Army Air Corps shortly after they married in 1941, and later transferred to the regular Army. He was a medical field services officer stationed all over the world during his career, with Sara Lee as his hostess supreme. In 1971 John retired as a Col. from the Army and began working for the National Academy of Science in Washington D.C.Sara Lee loved her life of travel around the world and collected antiques as they went. She was a fastidious decorator and gardener. Her home was always magnificent and she loved to entertain her friends. She always had dogs and loved them as people.Sara Lee and John had two children whom she loved dearly, Dr. John Redmond III of Philadelphia and Diane Kaufman of Eugene, Oregon.Col. Redmond died in 2003 at the age of 85 and Sara Lee moved to Eugene to be near her daughter Diane. She spent 11 years living mostly at Garden Way Retirement Center, where she was known as Miss Alabama. She would often hold court, telling stories about her upbringing on the plantation and her travels around the world in her soft southern drawl. She always said she loved Alabama but had not lived there since 1938. She and Jonny were married for 62 years, spending their last 37 years in McLean Va.Sara Lee was an artist, very musical, and busied herself as a docent for the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) or the Society of the Cincinnati. She was a true southern belle, graceful, elegant, and beautiful, who always took great care in her appearance and manners.Sara Lee will be remembered as a gracious and elegant woman whose gentle kindness was often expressed in the recalling of what a rich and full life she had lived, for a little girl from Fort Deposit Alabama, and she was loved by all that met her. While in Eugene, she belonged to the Altair sports club and enjoyed talking with its members at varied social events, she will be remembered for a life well lived. We miss her.Sara Lee will be interned with Col. Redmond in Arlington National Cemetery.