WATERTOWN, NY —Â Arlene Jean Sawyer, 89, passed into the Lord’s arms Friday, Nov. 12, 2021, at Samaritan Keep Home, Watertown.
Born Dec. 5, 1931, to Egbert Marriott and Effie Jacunski, she grew up on the Tug Hill before moving to the Cold Spring Manor Farm in Pulaski. It was there she married Irving E. Sawyer on Oct. 27, 1951.
Mrs. Sawyer lived a simple life, but one she lived and loved to the fullest. She quit school after ninth grade to work on the family farm. It was the place she loved, even more so when she could ride the work horses to get the cows. She contracted polio when she was eighteen, was hours away from the iron lung and told she would never walk again. She said she would. She did. After marrying Iriving, they moved to Rochester until in 1977 we bought a dairy farm on Bedford Corners Road, Cape Vincent.
She was the definition of what a mother should be. She taught me respect, empathy, patience, perseverance and even a few Polish words. She made amazing donuts and bread and putting together puzzles. But there was nothing better than when her sister Tootsie visited and relived the days on the HIll, laughing until the early morning hours. She studied her Bible, loved the Lord deeply, prayed for others and yearned to ride a horse again in Heaven’s garden. She was my very best friend until Alzheimer’s slowly took her away. I was blessed beyond belief that the Lord chose me to be her daughter.
Surviving are a daughter, Pamela Sawyer, grandchildren Troy and Tyler Russell, Casey (Tony) Hutchins, Cory Nuijens and her fiance Chris Spahn, and her great grandchildren Jesse, Tristan, Madison, Wyatt and Weston.
She was predeceased by her husband, Irving and son, Erwin “Butch” Sawyer, her brothers Robert, Harold, Daniel and sisters Evelyn, Edna, Effie “Tootsie”, and Gladys.
A burial will be held at a later date in Fairview Cemetery, Rodman.
Donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association.
Online condolences may be shared at www.clevelandfhinc.com.