Funeral Details

Sometimes we describe people as “larger than life” but in my aunt Sara’s case she was an enlarger of life. She lived every day during her one hundred years making a difference for her family, students, community, and country.
Sara was my mother Esther’s younger sister, and the two, being about three years apart, sustained an almost gravitational closeness throughout their lives. Growing up in Springfield, Massachusetts during the Great Depression and coming of age at the beginning of the Second World War, these daughters of Yiddish-speaking immigrants from what is now Belarus, near the border with Poland and Ukraine, were invested with warm familial love for Jewish culture or “Yiddishkeit.”
Sara married Stanley Hoff in 1943 when she was just 19 and he was 20. Like Sara in the Genesis version that we just read last Shabbat, she followed her Army Air Force pilot husband through foreign lands, including living in American-occupied Germany for several years, and later as an exiled New Englander to Houston in the mid-1960s. They returned happily to Massachusetts where they lived for nearly 30 years in Wayland and then Falmouth.
Both Sara and my mother Esther were artists. Sara studied music and voice and became an accomplished opera singer while Esther attended Rhode Island School of Design during the war years. Both later became teachers in their respective disciplines. Sara and Stan’s home was decorated with my mother’s paintings.
I cannot recall when I did not know Sara (and Stan). My mother would take us on annual summer trips back East where we would learn about American history at Lexington, Concord, Boston, and Plymouth. They seemed to be present for nearly every family “simcha” celebration of ours in California. Sara sang “Sunrise Sunset” at my and my brother’s weddings. I do distinctly recall one walk in the Redwoods during one visit in the early 1970s when I was about 16 consumed by concern for the environment and expressing my pessimism – she encouraged me to do something about it and assured me that there would be a better future; reminding me that there had been darker times.
I relied on Sara’s intuition and solicited her advice over the years. She could be candid and insightful about my marriage choices – and I hindsight spot on. She was the only person whom I permitted to call me “Danny” because that is what she preferred. She got to know both my daughters and impressed upon them the value of family. She even got to meet her great-great niece Nora a couple of years back.
I last spoke with Sara just a month ago. She asked about my family and as always, she told me how pleased she was that I actually had turned out to be “quite an accomplished man, husband and father.” It was the kind of compliment that I realized was based upon her own very full and impactful 100 years of life. Zichronam LeBracha – May her memory be a blessing!

Daniel Pava

Our deepest condolences to you and your family. Your mom was a wonderful lady and we enjoyed knowing her. Please share our condolences with your children. We will be with you in spirit and on zoom tomorrow. Love, Karel and Lee

Karel and Lee Wolfson

Through my mother in law Rhoda Cohen Sara became part of my family. She celebrated many important events with us including weddings and graduations. I will never forget her beautiful voice, her big smile and her loving spirit.

Barbara Cohen

Sara what a vibrant, joyful woman who shared smiles and music with everyone, a generous and loving person who showed me how to take up every inch of my space and time and strive always to reach out with love to those around me. She was at every family party growing up and sang at our wedding, Sunrise Sunset. She always mentioned her fondness for my parents, Alexander and Jane Rich, and how her birthday was so close to that of my father, her cousin. I had a lovely chat with Sara in late October, and more briefly on November 15, what would have been my father’s 100th birthday, with Lynda’s help. It is hard to imagine a world without Sara in it, but I will treasure her words to always be my own best friend and will remember her zestful embrace of life’s sweetness. She delighted in my learning Yiddish, suggested music and poems for my father’s memorial service - her list is precious to me - and introduced me to friends of hers and Stan (such a wonderful man) who showed me, unforgettably, their Holocaust tattoos and stories. Somehow the message was that what is horrific is no match for the wonder and glory of hope and light.
Jessica Rich Sturley & Family

From Rebecca Rich:
To my loving Sara Hoff, you gave me all the cheer in the world. We will love you forever and ever amen. I hope to visit you in my heart, full of joy.

Jessica Rich Sturley

Lynda, Ron, Geoffrey, Rachael,

I was absolutely shattered to learn about Sara's passing. Although she was a first cousin, she was another sister to my mother, and in turn, another aunt to me. As you all know, we spent a lot of time at the house in Wayland. The many family holidays and celebrations that were held there will forever be in my heart. Sara and Stan's door was always open to everyone, and the warmth and love they exuded knew no boundaries. I'll always remember how comfortable their home was, how there was always the wonderful aroma of a roasting turkey and all the fixings, a fire in the fireplace in the family room.

Sara was also my first voice teacher, and she delighted in my interest. She fostered my love of opera and musical theatre, and, to be honest, kind of made me a bit of a snob, as those are the two genres I most enjoy singing. I still have all the notes and sheet music from those lessons, and I'll keep them forever. I sang with the Reading Community Singers for a few seasons before I had my son, and I regret not telling her. I even had a solo one Christmas season!

When my son Micah was born a little over two years ago, Greta stayed with me to help out. We called Sara one evening after dinner, while one of us was holding my newborn. I hadn't spoken with her in 10 years - the last time when my mom had passed. I was so overwhelmed, I could barely say a word, but I was glad to directly share my wonderful news with her. I wished she could have met Micah, but I'm glad he got to hear her voice. They would have loved each other. I still have a bunny that she gave me, on my second day on Earth. Sara lied to the hospital staff and said she was my mother's sister, and made her way to the postpartum floor! Although it's a little threadbare, that bunny belongs to Micah now. We'll both be giving Pink & White extra (gentle) squeezes.

Deb Gaberman