Sarah Bird Nelson

Sarah Bird Williams Nelson died peacefully December 14, 2023, at Sunnyside Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She was born July 5, 1924, in Winchester, Virginia, the daughter of Philip Williams and Rebecca Paxton Williams. She was 99 years old.

Sarah graduated from Longwood College and got her Master’s in Nutrition from Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI), now known as Virginia Tech. She joined the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), part of the U.S. Army, as a nutritionist and retired as Lieutenant Colonel.

She was a long-time member of Woodstock Presbyterian Church, the Shenandoah Garden Club of Woodstock, and the Narrow Passage Chapter (Woodstock), National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR).

She married Benjamin Nelson in Washington, D.C., in 1967. After retirement, they enjoyed spending the winter months at their home in Satellite Beach, Florida, and the summer months at their home in Woodstock, Virginia. They moved to Sunnyside Retirement Community in Harrisonburg, Virginia, in 2013.

Sarah is survived by her brother, William Twyman Williams, of Alexandria, Virginia, her sister, Margaret Williams Adams, of Dallas, Texas, and several nieces and nephews.

A graveside service will be held at Massanutten Cemetery in Woodstock, Virginia, on Thursday December 28, 2023, at 1 p.m.

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