Sara “Mom/Ma” Jane Elliott, 82, of Paducah, died Thursday, November 5, 2015 in her home after a 50 year battle with cancer. Her love for Christ and love for her family and friends sustained her through it all.
Sara was born in 1933 to the late Jamie H. and Addie Mae Ross Buchanan of Ballard County. She was a graduate of Ballard County High School in 1941. After being orphaned at the age of 12, she was raised by her aunts and uncles where she developed a lifelong relationship with many of her first cousins. Only death was able to break their loving bond.
Sara was employed during the construction of the Gaseous Diffusion Plant near Kevil. She married the man of her dreams, Louis Elliott, who lived on the farm next door. After they married, they lived with Louis’s parents and brother Fred Elliott. While there, Sara learned to be a farmer’s wife from her mother-in-law, Marie Perdew Elliott. She soon became an integral part of the farming operation by cooking, canning, sewing, and raising three children. In her spare time, she drove to get parts for the farming equipment. In 1964, they established their own family farm in the Massac-New Hope community.
In 1965, Sara began her battle with cancer. At the age of 32, Sara was told by her doctors that she would never see her children graduate high school. She was diagnosed with colon cancer for the first time after all three children were married and one granddaughter. She was diagnosed with colon, rectal and duodenum cancer seventeen years later. By the time she was diagnosed with stomach cancer fifteen years later she had three great grandchildren.
Sara was survived by her daughter Lesa Clark and husband Dan Clark; granddaughter Ellie Gore Waggoner and husband Dustin Waggoner; great grandchildren Sadie Marie Waggoner, Grant Allen Waggoner, and Audrey Grace Waggoner; brother-in-law Fred Elliott, his wife Diana, their children and grandchildren. Other survivors are a son Wayne Elliott; a daughter Susan Schwab and a grandson Lucas Elliott.
Private funeral services were held on Sunday, November 8, with Fred Elliott officiating. Burial was held at New Hope Cemetery, where she was laid to rest next to her husband Louis Harold Elliott.
Sara was a member of Lone Oak First Baptist Church and Massac Methodist Church.
Contributions may be made to the New Hope Cumberland Presbyterian Church Cemetery Fund, 7680 New Hope Church Road, Paducah, KY 42001 or Massac United Methodist Church, 2065 Mayfield-Metropolis Road, Paducah, KY 42001.
You may leave a message, light a candle, or share a song tribute at www.milnerandorr.com.