South Paris – Sarah Frances Phillips Merritt, 85, died peacefully at Market Square Health Care Center on Sunday, June 11.

She was born on Oct. 5, 1920, to Fulton Franklin and Lola King Phillips in Charlotte, N.C. She graduated from Central High School and joined the workforce as a secretary at Travelers Insurance Co. She married Charles Francis Merritt on Sept. 1, 1944. After the war, they eventually made their home in Spartanburg, S.C., where she stayed at home raising their four children. They were married until his death in 1974.

She returned to the workforce in the 1960s, working as a secretary for the mayor of Spartanburg, Robert Stoddard. She continued in that line of work at the Spartanburg County Treasurer’s office. She moved to the South Carolina Tax Commission, where she was employed until her retirement.

Even in her retirement, she worked as bookkeeper for her son. In her true retirement, she filled her days with her Bible study and was a constant source of strength to all who knew her. Most of all, she enjoyed her family and her grandchildren in particular. She took delight in the accomplishments of all her children and grandchildren, while modestly downplaying her own. She was always available to lend a hand for their sake, whether it meant an afternoon, an overnight or extended stay.

She spent her life in the south until moving to Norway to be near her daughter. She had been a resident at Market Square since October 2003. Although Alzheimer’s had taken her memory, it could not touch her gentle disposition and sweet smile. She was, as a true Southern lady, always more concerned about others than herself, and she will always be remembered lovingly in that way.

She will be sorely missed by her three daughters, Susan Merritt and her husband, Calvin Woo, of San Diego, Calif., and their children Jenny, Chris and Danne, Brenda Melhus and her husband, Ola, of Norway, and their sons, Charles Magne, Leif, John and Hans, and Nancy Rose and her husband, Phil, of Center Moriches, N.Y., and their daughters, Emma and Caroline; her daughter-in-law, Julie Gnerlich and her husband, Capt. Charles Gnerlich, of Spartanburg, S. C., and their daughters, Courtney and Colee and Sarah’s great-grandson, Grady; four sisters, Katherine Phillips of Charlotte, N.C., Marion Bridges and her husband, Gerald, of Sanford, N.C., Doris Williams and her husband, Bob, of Charlotte, N.C., and Jean Whipple and her husband, Nelson, also of Charlotte, N.C.; a beloved brother-in-law, Jack Dagenhart of Charlotte, N.C; sisters-in-law, Helen Phillips of Charlotte, N.C., and Margaret Phillips, of Rock Hill, S.C.; and nieces, nephews and anyone who had the honor of knowing her.

Those who are waiting for Sarah are her parents; her husband, Big Charlie; her son, Charlie; her baby, Sara Jo; her siblings, Mary Reid, Margaret Dagenhart, Frank, James, Bryan and Robert Phillips; and her personal Savior.