Sarah Harvey Guthrie Harmon

Sarah Guthrie Harmon, ńee, Harvey, was born in Tampa, Florida at Tampa General Hospital on February 25, 1928. Her parents were Florence Harvey Guthrie of Tampa, Florida and James Williams Guthrie of Meridian, Mississippi. Her beloved grandfather, John McMillan Harvey, was a Tampa developer, banker, and businessman, who was a patient and loving grandfather who spent countless hours entertaining the young Sarah, the only grandchild for many years, with "Peter the Cat" at 818 S. Orleans in Hyde Park.

During the depths of the Depression, Sarah moved with her parents to Flossmoor, Illinois in 1932 so her father could take a job in Chicago. Their household was enlarged in 1936 by the birth of her brother, James Williams Guthrie, Jr.

The family’s life was interrupted by World War II when in 1941 Sarah’s father enlisted in the Navy, and the family moved to Falls Church, Virginia, where her father worked at the Washington, DC Navy Yard for the length of World War II.

Because Sarah's father was in the Navy, Sarah was able to attend Gordon Junior High (now Hardy Middle School) and Western High School (now The Duke Ellington School of Arts) in Washington DC. She and her best friend Doris Lee would meet their dear friend Stewart "Sonny" Shotwell at the original Hot Shoppe diner, the predecessor to the Marriott corporation, at the foot of the Key Bridge and also attended movies at the Falls Church State Theatre. Sarah was an accomplished athlete in high school in track and volleyball. She remained lifelong friends with Doris Lee and Sonny Shotwell, keeping up their friendships well into her 90s.

Following the war, she attended Reed college in Portland, Oregon. She loved Reed College and, through Eleanor Roosevelt's granddaughter, Eleanor Roosevelt Seagraves, told of sitting at the foot of Mrs. Roosevelt in her dorm room as Mrs. Roosevelt enlightened them on current events. Sarah also became an accomplished skier during this period. From Reed, Sarah transferred during her junior year to Stanford University to pursue her love of biology.

At Stanford, she majored in biological science and later became a research associate of the Nobel Laureate Edward L. Tatum, one of the prominent scientists responsible for cracking the chemical code of DNA. Sarah also pursued post-graduate studies in biology and genetics at Yale University and Stanford. When their mother died in 1954 at the age 54 on the night of his high school graduation, Sarah became the surrogate mother for her younger brother, James or "Jimmy." Sarah became his support and with a trait that valued educational achievement that many experienced, she motivated James to achieve academic success at Stanford, where he not only graduated but also obtained his PhD.

In 1954, she married fellow Stanford PhD student George Andrew Harmon. They resided in Palo Alto, California and had two children, Florence Elizabeth Harmon and George Andrew Harmon, Jr.

In 1966, the family moved to Western Pennsylvania, where George accepted an academic appointment at Clarion State College. In 1969, following her separation from George, Sarah initially moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she and her children lived with her younger brother, James and his wife Lynda, and their three children, namesake Sarah, Kip, and Shannon. Sarah spent many weekends organizing "Revolutionary War" field trips with her sister-in-law, Lynda, where they took the children (all under the age of 10) to sites, such as Concord and Lexington, the Freedom Trail, the Old North Church, Bunker Hill, Plymouth Rock, and many other historical sites during the one year they were in Cambridge.

In 1970, Sarah then returned to her place of birth, Tampa Florida, and her beloved aunt, Marion Harvey Partrick. Aunt Marion, known as "Sister," was a product of the 1920s, a former Gasparilla Queen, and an "Auntie Mame" who was a positive and loving influence in their lives where Sister helped care for Florence and Andy.

Sarah obtained her master’s in library science in the 1970s from the University of South Florida and served as a scientific medical librarian at the University of South Florida Medical School in Tampa and continued to reside in Tampa while her children graduated from high school and from college. She was a founding member of Grace Episcopal Church in Tampa Palms where she valued the spiritual guidance of Rector Larry Hooper.

In the last two decades of her life, Sarah moved to Washington DC to be near her daughter, Florence. Many fun times were spent with friends from Bethesda, including Anne and Cliff Southard, and Falls Church high school friend Sonny Shotwell of Richmond, Virginia.

Sarah will be remembered for her academic achievements, life-long intellectual curiosity, her passion for fair play and justice, and for her endless loving concern and sacrifices for her children, family, and friends, all of whom shall miss her very much.