Sarah Pledger Fechter

Sarah Pledger Crane Fechter, 87, of St. Petersburg, FL, will be remembered as a person who knew and lived the Christian faith. She showed through her character and daily acts that the sayings of Jesus were important to her.

Sarah is preceded in death by children Wendy Crane Johnson and Lawrence Gordon Crane, Jr., husbands Rev. Lawrence Crane, Sr. and Charles Fechter, Sr., and brother George Pledger.

Sarah is survived by her daughter Carol Wells (John), stepson Charles Fechter, Jr. (Leigh), daughter-in-law, Kathy Crane, son-in-law, Alan Johnson, granddaughters, Grace Wells Kitchen (Jacob), Laura Wells and Holly Wells, grandsons, Britton Moore and Aaron Moore (Michele).

Sarah grew up in Birmingham, AL, graduating from Woodlawn High School in 1951. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Sarah majored in mathematics at Maryville College and graduated in 1955. Sarah’s love for Maryville College lasted her entire life as she remained an active alumna and close with many of her college friends. She would continue her education years later, completing two advanced degrees in education at the University of Montevallo and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

Sarah married Reverend Larry Crane in 1958 and enjoyed serving as a pastor’s wife by putting her southern charm to good use. Larry’s life ended way too soon in 1970 leaving Sarah widowed with three young children. She moved the family back to Birmingham and immediately set out to make life for her young children as normal as possible. She began teaching in the Birmingham Public Schools and developed a keen interest in reading books about finances and investing. She took her children camping and on vacations, supporting them in their academic, athletic and musical interests, also serving as a Girl Scout leader. She made sure that all her children graduated from college without debt.

In 1977 Sarah moved from the Birmingham School System to Pizitz Middle School in Vestavia. She was a trailblazer in the field of computers in education, bringing personal computers (Tandy 1000) into the classrooms. After teaching middle school math for over 20 years, Sarah transitioned to become the Vestavia School District’s first Technology Coordinator. Sarah later reflected that she had never worked so hard or had so much fun in her career as an educator.

Shortly after retiring in 1993 Sarah married Charlie Fechter. After being a widow for 23 years and caring for everyone else, it was heartwarming to see Sarah so lovingly cared for by Charlie.

In 2000 Sarah was approached by the board of Eastern Area Christian Ministries to serve as the non-profit’s Executive Director. Sarah responded, “I am not at all sure that I want to do it, but I am sure that God wants me to.” For the next eight years Sarah led the daily running of the food distribution mission, which she said was the most rewarding experience of her life.

In 2008 Sarah and Charlie moved to the Westminster Palms retirement community in St. Petersburg, FL, to be closer to family. Her desire to serve God by serving others continued there. Shortly after moving to the Palms, Sarah implemented a computer-based system to manage all the functions of their library in a systematic way. In 2009 Sarah was named Volunteer of the Year at Westminster Palms.

Sarah’s church involvement was central to her life. She was an active member of First Presbyterian Church, St. Petersburg and had previously served in numerous capacities in the Presbyterian Church, USA.

Sarah’s lifelong love of poetry led her to a proficiency in writing. She was ultimately named Poet of the Year from the Alabama State Poetry Society. She published one chapbook “Poems from the Mission House: A Cup of Hope and a Bag of Love” and just weeks ago completed her second book “Poems from the Pandemic.”

She loved reading, fishing, the Auburn Tigers and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Sarah stressed the importance of resilience — “the ability to bounce back and grow when life presents a challenge. At such times only one’s faith is sufficient.”

The family would like to thank and recognize the staff at Westminster Palms for their care and friendship with Sarah. Memorials can be made to the St. Petersburg Free Clinic, www.stpetersburgfreeclinic.org