Sara Isaacs Smith

July 2, 1946 – August 14, 2026

It is with deep sadness that we announce that Sara passed away after her long, brave battle with stage 4 cancer. She just turned 80 years old.

Sara had a larger-than-life personality, and she left an impression on everyone she met. She was very smart and remained quick-witted until her very last day. You could always count on her to say it like it was and while she appeared to have a tough exterior everyone who really knew her understood she also had the biggest heart and she was incredibly generous and fiercely protective of her family and friends.

She was born in a displaced persons camp in Germany post-World War II to Holocaust survivor parents. They emigrated to the US as refugees when she was a young child and settled in NYC where she remained for the rest of her life. Her early years were in the Bronx and later she moved to Queens where she raised her two daughters. Sara’s entire life as a 2g was basically a survivor story. She was a gambler who loved a good casino trip, and she consistently beat all the odds she was given in life. She survived being born in a refugee camp, coming to a new country to start over with nothing, a massive heart attack that stopped her heart twice and two other types of cancer. Even with her most recent cancer diagnosis, she beat the statistical odds of survival she was given by nearly 3 years. We all started to believe she was invincible.

Sara is survived by her beloved husband Howie who was always by her side, older daughter Hayley, grandchildren Michael, Zoe and Maya, brother Joe, sister-in-law Joe Debbie, nieces, great niece/nephews and the many friends she “adopted” along the way and considered her family as well. She was predeceased by her parents Harry and Molly and younger daughter Alissa, who lost her own battle with cancer earlier this year.

She was truly the matriarch of her family, and she instilled in us the importance of honoring and continuing Jewish traditions. She taught us the importance of being honest, speaking our minds and of being more of a giver in life than a taker. She showed us strength and resilience in the face of adversity and to never take the finer things in life for granted. The void left by her passing can never really be filled. She will be missed greatly by everyone who loves her, but we take comfort knowing she is finally no longer in pain. She will now be reunited with all the relatives she never got to meet because they were lost to the Holocaust, her beloved parents who she can finally speak in Yiddish with again and her younger daughter who she dreamt about almost every night.

In lieu of flowers donations can be made in her honor to one of the following organizations:

Masbia – Their soup kitchen network provides over 5 million meals a year to people in need in the NYC area. https://www.masbia.org/

Disabled American Veterans – Providing free assistance to more than one million veterans every year helping them with healthcare, disability, and education benefits https://www.dav.org/

Blue Card Fund – Providing direct financial assistance to needy Holocaust survivors so they can live their final years in dignity. https://bluecardfund.org/

A Committal Service will be held at New Montefiore Cemetery, 1180 Wellwood Ave, West Babylon, NY 11704, US, on August 18, 2026, from 11:30 am to 12:30 pm. IF attending please meet at the cemetery office.