Sara M. Schwiebert

Sara Mills Schwiebert was born in Wheeling, West Virginia to Turner Thomas Mills, Sr. and Kathryn Grove Mills. She grew up in the small town of Cadiz, Ohio in the eastern Ohio coal mining country. She attended The Ohio State University and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education; there, she met her husband of nearly 50 years, Ernest “Ernie” George Schwiebert, Jr. Sara and Ernie were married in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where she was an elementary school teacher and where he worked on the architect and planning team that built The Air Force Academy.

Sara lived in Princeton, New Jersey for almost all of her adult life. She was an elementary school teacher at Johnson Park School before joining the Lower School faculty at The Princeton Day School. She began teaching as a substitute and then as a first-grade teacher. Later, in a complete surprise to her, she became a candidate for Head of the Lower School at Princeton Day School, a leadership position that she held for more than 20 years; during that time, she oversaw the construction and opening of a new school wing dedicated to the Lower School. Her great joy was greeting children at the start of the school day in carpool and saying goodbye to them at carpool in the afternoon. Our family’s favorite memory was when she would dress up for the Halloween festival as a kind witch in a full mask and a faux black velvet and fur costume with a cane and a basket of old bones. She wore the same costume every year and stumped many a student, colleague or parent about her true identity. Throughout her tenure, she would write plays and songs for the students. Sara had a wonderful network of active and retired teachers at Princeton Day School and visited with them often at school or nearby where the family lived.

She cherished the family home on Stuart Road in Princeton. She loved her many Siamese pet cats that lived with and loved us. Our family designed and built the home as one of the original three houses on this road across from Stuart School more than 50 years ago. It is a well-known house of modern design in the woods near the southernmost advance of the glacial rocks of the last Ice Age. Sara was an avid gourmet cook and loved to treat family and friends to elegant meals in the dining room. Late in life because of difficulties with mobility, she moved to be near immediate family in Birmingham, Alabama where she made many friends and enjoyed her apartment at Danberry of Inverness. We enjoyed many outings and meals and gatherings as an immediate family. She is survived by her son, Erik Mills Schwiebert, the daughter that she never had, Lisa Marshall Schwiebert, and wonderful grandchildren Elisabeth Marshall Schwiebert and Turner Marshall Schwiebert. She is survived by two cherished nieces, Julie Mills (Skoulis) and Sarah Mills (Fitz), and her favorite nephew, David Mills. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Ernie, and by her only brother, Turner Thomas Mills, Jr.

She died on February 19th, 2022 after a sudden illness.

The Schwiebert family would like to thank Danberry at Inverness for being a lovely home for her late in life. We thank their 24-hour Companion Care team, as well as the therapists and skilled nurses from Amedisys Home Health and the skilled doctors in the Grandview Medical Center ER and UAB Medicine.

A Celebration of Life event is being planned for later in the year at Princeton Day School. In lieu of flowers, please make donations in her name to The Princeton Day School, her work home for countless years and where she was blessed to have countless friends and colleagues.