Sally P. Foster

Sally Joan (Priest) Foster passed away peacefully on March 6, 2024, after a 10-year battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Sally was known for her infectious laugh, her beautiful smile and her kind heart — qualities she exuded until the end — and her life was defined by her love of her family and friends and her passion for volunteering.

Born in Lakewood, Ohio, in 1935, to Fred B. and Margaret Priest, and raised in Rocky River, Ohio, Sally loved sharing stories and laughs about growing up with two protective and sometimes mischievous brothers, Fred and Jim, and parents who loved to host “some pretty wild” gatherings. She had a large posse of pals from kindergarten through high school who became lifelong friends — Sally continued driving to Cleveland to see “the girls” for monthly “champagne sleepovers” until well into her seventies.

The family’s treasured property in Brecksville, Ohio, which they called “the farm,” was a cherished place for Sally to spend time with her immediate and extended family and friends. Sally loved her two-week vacations at the farm every summer with George and her girls and, eventually, visiting her adult children with their kids (and dogs!) as they carried on the summer vacation tradition, and she hosted several Rocky River High School class reunions there along with more than 30 Thanksgivings for the extended family.

Sally attended Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, where, in 1955, she received an associate’s degree in nursery school education. This is also where George had first laid eyes on her at a fraternity party, and thought, “There’s the girl I want to marry.” Sally was dating a fraternity brother at the time, so he didn’t pursue her – but months later, when George agreed to go on a double date with a friend, whose girlfriend’s roommate needed a date, he was pleasantly surprised to discover his date was Sally Priest. Although Sally and her roommate burned the spaghetti dinner that night, the sparks really flew between Sally and George, and his premonition proved true. They were married in May 1957 in Rocky River, and they honeymooned near Denver, Colorado, and other cities and towns en route across the country to Tacoma, Washington, where George would be stationed in the Army. Sally and George stayed on the West Coast for a few years, where two of their daughters, Kelly and Karen, were born, and then in 1963 moved back to Cleveland, where Kristen and Katy were born.

As tempting as it was to stay near family in Cleveland, Sally felt strongly that she and George should branch out, so they moved to the North Rosedale Park neighborhood in Detroit in 1965, where they raised their girls and stayed until 2016. Once again, Sally took a path less traveled – as so many families moved to the suburbs in the wake of busing and other challenges in the 1970s, Sally wanted to stay in Detroit and be part of making North Rosedale Park a beautiful and integrated community in which to raise a family. This is where Sally’s volunteering really launched in earnest. Early on, Sally was president of the PTA as well as myriad other volunteering roles at Cooke Elementary School; she was the “cookie mom” for several years for Girl Scouts; she taught Sunday school and was on the hospitality committee at Bushnell Congressional Church. Sally especially leaned into any and every opportunity to support the North Rosedale Park Community: She held several leadership positions with the North Rosedale Park Civic Association, as well as its Women’s Club, helping with all activities ranging from park beautification, to the annual June Day Parade, to the neighborhood’s newsletter, the Tattler, to dances at the neighborhood’s “command central” meeting place, the Community House.

Sally’s volunteerism extended beyond North Rosedale Park, with her longtime work with the Junior Group of Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit, which expands opportunities for people with disabilities. She was a 25+-year volunteer and also chaired the group’s annual fundraiser, the Goodwill Antiques Show. In the 1990s, as she was entering full-blown grandmotherhood, Sally became involved with the group’s umbrella organization, the Junior Group of Goodwill Industries International, volunteering her way through several board positions, including president and chair, which had her traveling for the group’s annual conventions board meetings.

Throughout all of these activities, Sally enriched her vast network of close friends – with whom she could put her inherited knack for hosting a fun gathering to use. Sally loved to have friends over for football games (especially the annual Ohio State University-University of Michigan rivalry), bridal and wedding showers, anniversary and birthday parties, and any other excuse to gather.

Sally loved dancing with George, eating good food, watching old movies – and having a front row seat for her grandchildren as they took the stage, field, court, pool, lake and slopes for all manner of activities, in locales ranging from Detroit, to Cleveland to Alexandria, Virginia. Second to George, Sally also loved Paul Newman — as anyone who saw Sally wearing the t-shirt bearing his face (gifted to her by George) could see.

Sally also enjoyed traveling – much of Sally and George’s travels were centered around visiting family and friends in different parts of the country, from Washington State to Connecticut, Northern Michigan to Florida and, of course, Columbia Missouri, to which she and George continued to travel annually for the homecoming football game well into the 2000s. Sally and George also enjoyed some international travel over the years, to Spain, Italy, Ireland, Scotland and Mexico.

More than anything, Sally loved being around people – her children and grandchildren, first and foremost, as well as old friends and new alike, and extended family. Sally was an intense listener: Whether you were her daughter, son-in law, niece or nephew, grandchild, sister-in-law or friend, Sally listened with an open mind and heart, soaking in your back story and hopes and challenges and offering genuine words of encouragement and support – and a great sense of humor. As the Foster girls went off to college and moved away from home, it was not unusual for their friends to still stop by the Foster’s home on Bretton Drive, just to “catch up with Mrs. Foster.”

Sally was preceded in death by her parents, Frederick B. and Margaret Priest, and her brother, Frederick M Priest. She is survived by her husband, George Foster, their daughters, Kelly Foster, Karen Foster (Marc Graves), Kristen Bove (Paul), Katy Penn (Nicholas); her brother Walter James Priest (Carol) and sisters-in-law Marjorie Priest and Connie Priest. She is the grandmother to Timothy (Anne) and Scott Vining; Matthew (Callie), Margaret and Luke Bove; Fiona and Lily Penn; and great grandmother to Cassidy and Kelley Bove, and Verona Vining.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, May 11, at 12 pm, at the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, 788 Lake Shore Road, Grosse Pointe Shores, MI 48236. Please direct inquiries to Kristen Bove, [email protected].

Donations may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave., Fl. 17, Chicago, IL 60601 and to Bella Care Hospice, 110 Polaris Parkway, Ste 302, Westerville, OH 43082-7054.

Arrangements have been trusted to SCHOEDINGER MIDTOWN.