NORTH CONWAY, NH – Sara Jane Corson, loving wife of Floyd died peacefully at home on October 20, 2017 with her family by her side. She was born on February 9, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York to Charles Damon and Mabel Hunt Cummings. She attended several elementary schools as the family moved often while her dad was the CEO/President of the several MacIntosh Business Colleges in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Following her graduation from Dover, NH High School, Sara Jane entered the University of New Hampshire and graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree in 1954.
After graduating from UNH she was employed as an elementary music specialist for the Epping, NH school district. After a five-year tenure in New Hampshire, Sara Jane joined the faculty of the Algonquin Regional High School in Northborough, Massachusetts as a music teacher and choral director. During her Algonquin years she was the manager of several Massachusetts All District & All Sate Choral Festivals. It was during this time that she and Floyd met when he was the accompanist for many of these Choral Festivals and Director of Music at Tantasqua Regional Junior/Senior High School in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. Following their wedding at the Central Congregational Church in Newburyport, Massachusetts, Sara Jane began taking graduate conversion courses to certify as an elementary classroom teacher. During the early years of their marriage, she joined elementary school faculties in the school districts of Northborough, Sturbridge and Westfield, Massachusetts. When Floyd received an appointment to the faculty at the University of Massachusetts at Westfield, Sara Jane was asked to become a member of the faculty at the University’s Laboratory Elementary School (Juniper Park) as a mentor teacher. While in this position, she guided many student teachers through their internship requirement.
Beyond her musical and educational skills, Sara Jane was an extraordinary seamstress fashioning stunning apparel for herself and the entire family. Her talents extended to creating extraordinarily beautiful handwork: knitting, quilting, counted-cross-stich, embroidery and needlepoint. Another lifelong interest was sharing her cooking & baking skills with family and friends. At churches where Floyd served as organist/choir director, the choir would be treated to wonderful breakfast breads, rolls & coffee cakes between the two Sunday morning services. While living in Westfield, several students from the University sang in Floyd’s church choir; Sara Jane provided a full breakfast at our home for all those young people before Sunday morning services.
Following Floyd’s retirement from the University of MA at Westfield in 1988, he & Sara Jane moved to their retirement home in Jackson, New Hampshire where they continued musical activities. In 2001 Floyd and Sara Jane founded White Mountain Musical Arts (WMMA) in order to provide live concerts of art music in the Mount Washington Valley. In those early years of WMMA, Sara Jane filled many critical administrative functions to help a not-for-profit arts organization become firmly established in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire. White Mountain Musical Arts became the sponsor of the Annual Bach Festival in 2002 when its founder was no longer able to organize and direct the event. As way of providing support for a not-for-profit organization & making more friends, Sara Jane along with Floyd spent many hours volunteering for the Mount Washington Weather Observatory. Even though Sara Jane had no love for cold and snow, she and Floyd did spend a night with the Observatory’s staff in the Sherman Adams Building on the 6,288-foot summit.
In addition to her husband, she leaves a daughter, Anne W. Polak and her husband Frank of Bridgton, ME; two granddaughters Julia W. Edwards, her husband Daniel, a great grandson, Atticus (whom she was able to see and hold on several occasions before she passed) also of Bridgton, ME; and Sara D. Handspicker of Windermere, Florida. The extended family includes many nieces, nephews as well as several grandnieces and grandnephews. Sara Jane was predeceased by her parents and her brother, Charles D. Cummings, Jr.
A Celebration of Life Service is scheduled for May 5, 2018 at 1:00 p.m. at The First Church of Christ, Congregational in North Conway, NH. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to: First Church of Christ, Congregational/Burtis Music Fund, PO Box 401, North Conway, NH 03860; Visiting Nurse Home Care & Hospice of CC, PO Box 432, North Conway, NH 03860; White Mountain Musical Arts, PO Box 2753, North Conway, NH 03860; or a Shriners Hospital for Children.
