Sara Hunt Christenberry

We are heartened to know as Mama left our arms tonight, she slipped into the arms of her Jesus. Sara Steele Hunt Christenberry stepped into Heaven January 29, 2022. But oh, what a life she lived. She grew up in Brent, Alabama where she worked in her father’s pharmacy and the hotel her parents operated. She left Brent in 1947 to attend Judson College where she helped pay for her education, working as a Dining Hall Girl, a job she loved. In 2008, the Judson Dining Hall was renamed the Sara Hunt Christenberry Dining Hall. At the dedication of the Hall, then President of Judson College, Dr. David Potts said, “I think we can emphasize three words today….beauty, truth, and goodness. We celebrate a life today made up of these ideals”. While at Judson, Mama met the love of her life in Boyd Eugene Christenberry. The night of their first date, Daddy went home to his mother and told her he had just met the girl he would marry, and marry her he did and they enjoyed almost 69 years of marriage before Daddy went to be with the Lord. Before Judson, Mama attended Bibb County High School, where she was selected Homecoming Queen and the “Prettiest Girl” in the school’s Who’s Who her senior year. Also, in her senior year, she penned the class poem that became prophetic of her life. Within that verse, she spoke of her determination to “dwell within wisdom’s sphere and seek eternal truth”, to help create justice and lift high “toil-worn humanity”, and plans of “gallant deeds”. Those who knew Mama saw her live these words out through simple acts of kindness. Our mother amazed us in her ability to identify a need and quietly slip into a hurting friend’s home and tidy up, or prepare a meal, or do someone’s laundry and find exactly the right drawer to deposit it, clean and fresh.

She was a loving, faithful wife and mother, always the heart of our home. She worked in Preschool for 10 years at First Baptist Church, Talladega and at First Baptist Church, Montgomery for 40 years and served as a greeter there in recent years, blessing so many with her smile and tender words of welcome. We are thankful that one of the gallant deeds she chose was Motherhood, through which she allowed her children to dwell in her own wisdom’s sphere and taught us to seek the eternal truth of which she was so sure. Because of her, we know something of justice and perhaps at times attempt to lift humanity high because she did it first. Perhaps the best gift she gave us was her consistent undergirding prayer and example to spend our lives in Christ.

Our deepest thanks to those angels who cared so kindly for Mama in recent years: Cynthia Steele, Vernita Jennings of Jennings Professional Services, Earlethia Atchison, Earnestine Ervin, Cherry Johnson, Alvita Taylor, and Sandra Ross. You are now in the fabric of our family.

Our mother loved and is survived by her children (spouses): Bob Christenberry (Tibby), Kathy Loomis (Steve), Chris Anderson (Mark), Bill Christenberry (Kim), and Joe Christenberry (Laura). Her life influence will also live on in her 21 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren. Funeral services will be at First Baptist Church, Montgomery at 2 P.M. on February 13, 2022, with a visitation at 1 P.M. The immediate family will attend her interment to follow. In recognition of our Mother’s servant heart, we respectfully ask you to mask while indoors with us to protect the most vulnerable among us. We will be honored by your presence and will have masks at the door for those who need them. Our mother loved pretty flowers, but she loved people more, so in lieu of flowers, please send donations to: Baptist Hospice, Baptist Children’s Home, or First Baptist Church Caring Center.

In the context of her Christian life, the last line of Mama’s poem rings especially true: “We’ll travel past the hills of home to mountains far and blue”. Today as she slips past her hills of home, leaving her love legacy behind, she arrives in her own mountains of Heaven to receive her crown. She will need a wheelbarrow to carry it to Jesus’ feet. We love you, Mama. We’ll see you in Heaven….thank you for showing us the way.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.Leak-MC.com for the Christenberry family.