Sara Houstoun Lindsey, loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend, passed away on the 16th of February, 2016. A second generation Houstonian, Sara was born on the 10th of December, 1922 to James Patrick Houstoun and Martha Gano Houstoun. As a child, she grew up in the Greater Third Ward, was a Purple Pup at Lanier Middle School and spent her summers at Cimarroncita Ranch Camp for Girls in New Mexico. After graduating from Chatham Hall College Prep in Chatham, Virginia, Sara matriculated into Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, where she earned a degree in 1943.
Graced with the heart and vision of a natural leader, Sara inherited a strong sense of civic responsibility and commitment to community from her mother who was the first woman to serve on the Board of Regents of the University of Houston. She did not wait long before starting to improve the world. Serving as president of Student Government her freshman year at Pine Manor College, her positive impact continued as an alumna through her service as a Trustee from 1962-1964, as well as from 1988-1994 when she was elected a Trustee Emerita.
A dance in the sixth grade proved to be a defining moment in Sara’s life when she met her true love John H. Lindsey. Following John’s service as an Army officer in World War II and graduation from Texas A&M University, they married on the 30th of August, 1946. Over the course of their marriage spanning almost seventy years, Sara and John were a team, supporting one another’s causes and interests, profoundly impacting scores of organizations across the city of Houston and state of Texas. Particularly close to their hearts was their long-standing history of involvement at Texas A&M University, always eager to do whatever they could to strengthen A&M and enhance future generations of its students. In addition to the establishment of many scholarships, including the Edwin H. Lindsey Memorial Presidential Endowed scholarship in their son’s memory, Sara and John Lindsey donated the four-millionth volume, Don Quixote, to the Texas A&M University Libraries, created the Lindsey Gallery at the Memorial Student Center; and funded the Sara and John Lindsey Series in the Arts and Humanities. While John was instrumental in the creation of the Texas A&M University Press, Sara always kept the spotlight on him, enhancing the landscaped entry to the John H. Lindsey Building as a living gift to her husband. Later, she continued to personally support The Press during John’s ill health.
Sara served on the Governor’s Board of the State of Texas Hemisfair, as the Houston representative of the American Social Health Association and Liberal Arts Council of Texas A&M. Her volunteer service includes the Good Samaritan Foundation, The Gathering Place, Visiting Nurse Association Board, the American Red Cross, the River Oaks Garden Club, AWARE, Camp For All, YMCA Building Campaign, American Heart Association, and the Friends of Hermann Park.
One of Sara’s most compelling and meaningful affiliations was with The Junior League of Houston, Inc. where she served as President from 1957-58. In previous roles, Sara was chair of the third annual Charity Ball (an event she enthusiastically supported for sixty-eight years), co-chair of the first Junior League cookbook published in 1968 and co-chair of the current Junior League’s Building and Plans Committee. Sara and John hosted the first party in the previous Junior League building on Post Oak Park Drive in 1965 and, twenty years later, continued the tradition by hosting the first party in the current building on Briar Oaks Drive.
In 2004, Sara was honored by The Junior League of Houston, Inc. as the recipient of the prestigious Adelaide Lovett Baker Award. The award, named for the organization’s founding president, was presented to Sara in recognition of the significant impact she made helping to build a better community. In many ways, this award represented coming full circle as Sara’s mother was among the first members asked to join the Junior League by Adelaide Lovett Baker.
In her acceptance speech, Sara referred to her fear of flying when, as director for The Association of Junior Leagues, Inc. she was called to visit fifteen Junior Leagues in the region. After a particularly memorable fourteen-hour bus trip to Abilene, Texas, Sara switched to flying, her philosophy being, “If I crash going I would not have to make a speech, and if I crash coming home I wouldn’t have to write thank-you notes.” Sara later served as vice-president of The Association of Junior Leagues International, Inc. All of her work, Sara noted, was done during a time when there were no Xerox or fax machines, no beepers or cell phones, no computers or e-mail “and no White-Out.”
To honor his wife’s tireless dedication to the community’s needs, John endowed the Sara Houstoun Lindsey Award in 2004. This distinguished award given annually recognizes an outstanding active member of The Junior League of Houston, Inc. who, in Sara’s image, exemplifies gracious, inspirational, generous and compassionate leadership in all walks of life.
During the Hermann Park Conservancy’s renovation of Hermann Park, the Lindsey’s demonstrated their stewardship to the city’s natural resources by establishing the Sara H. and John H. Lindsey Plaza, providing an attractive entryway to the park. They also gave Jonathan, the male lion, and three lionesses to the Houston Zoo, the Lindsey Waterside Landing at Discovery Green, Houston’s downtown park and were benefactors of the Museum of Fine Arts and Bayou Bend.
Sara also was an avid, lifetime fan of Elvis Presley. Over the years, she built an extensive collection of Elvis memorabilia. Supporting her husband John’s love of all things Aggie, Sara joyfully donated her beloved collection known as “The King” to The Cushing Library at Texas A&M University in 2014.
For thirty-five years, Sara and John spent every summer and numerous weekends at their beach house in Jamaica Beach, Galveston with their twin boys. The boys were good surfers and loved crabbing and fishing, but the most fun for the entire family was walking the beach where they would scour the coastline for sharks’ teeth.
A devotee of bridge, Sara spent countless hours with her esteemed and loyal group of over thirty years, always trying master the game, taking lessons until the end.
With her no-nonsense style, Sara was a woman of substance, flashing her smile that could light up a room. Her signature wit was indisputable in the whimsical poetry she penned for every occasion. Legendary for her entertaining, Sara opened her heart and home to generations of young friends whom she treated as family and who, in turn, kept her young at heart. A force of nature, Sara’s gifts of valued wisdom and generosity made a difference to the past, present and future. Sara’s thumbprint will remain forever on the hearts of family and friends.
Sara was a member of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, the Bayou Club, The Assembly, The Philosophical Society of Texas and River Oak Garden Club to which she belonged for fifty-six years and received the club’s Civic Improvement Award in 2005.
Sara H. Lindsey was preceded in death by her father James Patrick Houstoun and mother Martha Gano Houstoun; brothers, James Patrick Houstoun, Jr. and William Gano Houstoun and sister, Mrs. Platt Walker Davis, Jr. (Janet); and son, Edwin Houstoun Lindsey, all of Houston.
Sara is survived by her husband, John H. Lindsey; son David Cleveland Lindsey, David’s wife Kimberly Pulice Lindsey and their two daughters Lauren Sara Lindsey and Blake Houstoun Lindsey, also of Houston.
Sara is also survived by her sisters-in-law Evelyn Chew and Marian Fleming and nieces and nephews, Platt and Carolyn Davis, Dick and Barbie Davis, Martha Davis Sayrs, Pat and Bernice Houstoun, Rock and Tricia Houstoun, Sally and Larry Evoy, Johnny and Wendy Houstoun, Margot and Scott Ritchie, Jeri and Jimmy Houstoun, Richard and Mimi Houstoun and their families.
In addition, Sara is survived by her goddaughter Sarah Wilson McGoohan of San Francisco, California with whom she shared a rare and special relationship.
The family wishes to express its gratitude to her long time devoted caregivers Dr. Emily Barker and Madeline Bunch both with River Oaks Doctors Group and Rick Ramirez of Home Health Care.
Serving as honorary pallbearers are Varian Fewell, John Garrett, Jr., Vandehue Harvey,Gready Hunter, Brad Lindig, Doak Leggett, H. Davis Mayfield and Jeffery Paine.
Friends are cordially invited to a visitation with the family from five o’clock to seven o’clock in the evening on Monday, the 22nd of February in the library and grand foyer of Geo. H. Lewis & Sons, 1010 Bering Drive in Houston.
The memorial service will be conducted at one-thirty in the afternoon on Tuesday, the 23rd of February at St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, 3471 Westheimer Rd. where Rev. Bill Denham is to officiate. Immediately following, all are invited to share remembrances of Sara H. Lindsey during a reception at a venue to be announced during the service.
Prior to the service, the family will have gathered for private interment at the Lindsey Family gravesite at Glenwood Cemetery in Houston.
In lieu of usual remembrances, the family requests contributions in memory of Sara H. Lindsey be directed to The Junior League of Houston, Inc., 1811 Briar Oaks Drive, Houston, Texas 77027; The Houston Zoo, 6200 Hermann Park Drive, Houston, TX 77030; or The Hermann Park Conservancy, 1700 Hermann Park Dr., Houston, Texas 77030.
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