Sarah Long

Sarah Lou (VanNoy) Long, 92, loving wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister, aunt, and friend entered eternal life on Tuesday January 18, 2022 with family present at her daughter Linda Livermore’s home in Frisco, TX.

Visitation will be held Thursday, January 27, 2022, at 1:00 pm to 8:00 pm with the family present from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm and Memorial service will be 2pm, Friday, January 28, 2022, both at Smith Mortuary in Derby. Burial beside her beloved husband at Derby’s Hillcrest Cemetery.

The daughter of Fay and Osa (Fuson) VanNoy, Sarah was born November 2, 1929 in Springfield, MO. She graduated from Norwood High School and from (Southwest) Missouri State University with a Bachelor’s in Music Education and Business.

Sarah met the love of her life, Floyd C Long, Jr in high school and married on December 23, 1950 in a little country church on a beautiful warm day in Norwood, MO. She worked as a school music teacher and was an Air Force wife. They moved from Missouri to Derby, KS in 1959 when Floyd accepted a job at Boeing and they gained such dear friends over the many years.

Sarah really enjoyed teaching her many piano students for over 55 years. She studied organ with Dorothy Addy in Wichita and was the organist at Pleasantview Baptist Church in Derby for over 35 years. She was a member of the American Guild of Organists & Kansas Music Teacher Association. Sarah was a 4-H project leader and taught gardening, cooking and sewing classes to her own children and others. She was part of the Sedgwick County Home Extension program. After Floyd’s retirement, they moved to Belle Plaine, KS where she played organ and piano at the Presbyterian Church and added many new friends and even more sweet piano students.

Sarah also loved other creative outlets such as painting, sewing, crocheting, knitting, gardening, growing peonies, african violets and baking ribbon winning cinnamon rolls and fruit pies. Her love of quilting may have topped them all as she created many beautiful, award winning quilts and wall hangings in all different patterns and color pallets. After Floyd’s retirement, he helped her with several of her quilts and drove her to her favorite quilt store Sunflower Quilts in Derby, almost always followed by lunch at Pizza Johns. Sarah and Floyd were so connected and he was always holding her hand. Soon after Floyd’s passing in June 2015, Sarah poured her sorrow into a new, special quilt she called “Windows”.

In December of 2015 after a trip down for Christmas, Sarah started living with her daughter Linda and her family in Frisco TX, all of whom shared in taking such good care of Sarah daily. This love and care along with connections to all of Sarah’s family added additional years and space for creating many new special memories. Sarah and Linda completed several of Sarah’s earlier quilt projects and created many new beautiful quilts. Living nearby, daughter Karen joined often for crafts, games and helping with Sarah, while Kansas daughter Luann traveled many times to treasure good times together. During this time, Sarah also traveled back to her Belle Plaine home for various weddings and to visit friends. She flew to visit her sister Joanne in Missouri for a special week. During her stay in Texas one of her favorite visits included sewing time with two granddaughters Dana and Kate. She was visited in Texas by various family members including Terry, Sharon, Brian, Cameron and Makayla and most recently a visit from her sister Lois and niece Ronda from California.

Sarah has been described as a creative, caring, generous and loving person. Her time in Frisco allowed her to share her love almost daily with her grandchildren Taylor & Melissa, and through technology she watched with pride her grandchildren and great grandchildren grow and find their unique talents and interests as they spread their wings. Technology also enabled her to write to family and friends who lived further away to stay in touch. She remained kind and gracious despite her body’s physical limitations. In her last days, Sarah expressed her gratitude for her family who did so much for her over the years, expressed her love for her family and her beloved husband Floyd, and shared that she knew she was loved! Sarah also spoke words of encouragement, thanked Jesus for saving her and declared that God is good! Her greatest treasure was her family, her source of strength was her faith and the wind in her sails was her ability to remain thankful and entrenched in family.

Sarah was preceded in death by her parents Fay and Osa VanNoy, her loving and devoted husband of 65 years Floyd C Long, Jr.

Left to cherish her memories are her four children, Luann Delgado of Towanda, KS, Terry (Sharon) Long, of South Lyon, MI., Karen (Manuel) Ramos of Irving, TX and Linda (Scott) Livermore of Frisco, TX; six grandchildren: Cameron (Makaylah) Delgado, Dana (Andrew) Affrunti, Brian (Chengyi) Long, Kate (Mike) Lijoli, Taylor Livermore and Melissa Livermore; fIve great grandchildren: William, Charlotte and Nathan Affrunti, Mackenzie and Riley Long; sisters Joanne Owens and Lois Walker; sister-in-law Ann Staiger; cousins, nieces, nephews and many friends.

Memorials have been established with the Kansas 4-H Foundation (Sarah Long Memorial), 1680 Charles Place Suite 100, Manhattan, KS 66502 and Belle Plaine United Methodist Church (Sarah Long Memorial), 124 E 10th Ave, Belle Plaine, KS 67013.