Obituary of Sara J. Schober

A Time of Remembrances for Sara Jo (Crist) Schober will be held at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, December 12, 2015, at the Congregational United Church of Christ in Newton, conducted by Rev. Jessica Petersen. A time of Fellowship and Visitation will be from 5pm until 7pm, Friday, December 11, 2015, at the Pence ~ Reese Funeral Home in Newton. Memorials have been designated in Sara's name to: Newton Community Schools Elementary Special Education and the Congregational United Church of Christ. Sara J. Schober, 60, the daughter of Benjamin and Florence (Stevens) Crist, was born September 19, 1955, in Lyons, Kansas. She grew up working on her family's farm, helping to harvest wheat, tend to chickens, and maintaining a daily chore of milking the family's dairy cows. She retained a life long love and appreciation for nature and animals. She was a graduate of the Little River, Kansas, Senior High School, had an Associate Graphic Arts Degree from Hutchinson Junior College in Hutchinson, KS and a Special Education Degree from Upper Iowa University in Fayette, IA. On November 6, 1982, Sara was united in marriage to Stephen Dallis Schober in Little River, KS. A resident of the Newton area since 1982, Sara held many positions before she found her true calling, including working as a graphic artist and managing a craft store. After receiving a cancer diagnosis in 1997, Sara decided to return to school to become an elementary educator with an endorsement for reading and special education. She worked at Fairview Elementary in Grinnell, the Newton Senior High School, and Woodrow Wilson, Thomas Jefferson, Berg, and Emerson Hough Elementary Schools in Newton, Iowa. She devoted her life to her family, students and friends, and was an active member of the Congregational United Church of Christ in Newton and of the Armenia Sampey Questers. Sara enjoyed the outdoors, antiques, gardening, vacationing, cooking, baking, sewing, quilting and her dogs and cats. At home, Sara was known for executing home-based summertime reading and math interventions, for being a driver, alarm clock, and personal chef, and for not being a "magic fairy." Her friends knew her to be a great listener, generous of heart, and both goofy and shy. She loved nature, and enjoyed hiking, camping, bike riding, tending to her garden, and riding horses on family vacations. Sara was also known for the incredible endurance and grit she showed in enduring an 18-year battle with metastatic colon cancer. She was a role model for many others who endured cancer diagnoses, and was a frequent participant in such charitable events as Relay for Life. Sara's students and colleagues were accustomed to seeing Sara at school no matter what treatments or surgeries she may have been recovering from. Sara never allowed cancer to prevent her from achieving goals, such as that of becoming a teacher, nor did she allow it to become a damper on her characteristic positivism and grace. She will be remembered as an animal-lover, tender heart, compassionate and loving mother and partner, and overall tough gal. Sara passed away Sunday evening, December 6, 2015, at her home in Newton. Those left to honor Sara's memory include her husband Stephen; her daughter Katie (David) Schober-Ordonez of Maple Grove, Minnesota; her son Ben Schober of Iowa City; a sister Susan (Gary) Jackson of Newton, Kansas; and many good friend and colleagues. Sara was preceded in death by her parents and by her sisters, Carole Bailey and Cindy Grigsby.