Sara Virginia Stewart, named after her grandmother Sara Virginia Hay and who was called Rose by her family, passed away on Oct. 15, 2025, in Portland, Oregon.
She was born on June 25, 1968, at Stayton Hospital in Oregon.
“Sara had the most beautiful smile,” her family wrote. She grew up in Mill City, Oregon, and many knew her as a good friend. In school she was a talented athlete. She attended Santiam High School, and as a senior won an award for Female Athlete of the Year.
The same year, Sara was chosen to travel to China to compete in international track and field competition. Her family was very proud of her accomplishments, representing her country “with her big, beautiful Sara smile,” her family wrote.
After graduating in 1986, she moved to Monmouth, Oregon, for college at Western Oregon University, which she attended for two years. She then moved back to the Santiam Canyon, Oregon, where she worked at Feres Lumber before getting a job at U.S. Forest Service Detroit Ranger District and trained to be a forest technician.
After several years there, she transferred to the Wrangell Ranger District, where her mother and extended family lived, and she was welcomed with open arms. Each day, she would be dropped off by helicopter to work in the Alaska wilderness. She was good at what she did and was well respected by her colleagues and friends.
She eventually moved back to Oregon and spent the remainder of her life there.
“Sara was kind, funny, and lived life with a passion. She was a beloved friend, sister, daughter and aunt,” her family wrote. “We are content knowing that she is at peace and smiling brightly in the company of her mother, father, sister and all of her loved ones who passed before her. God bless you Sara Virginia, today and always. We love and miss you. Until we meet again.”
Sara leaves behind her brother, Mike Stewart, of Mill City, Oregon; sister Denise S. Stewart, of Wrangell; nieces Georgia Downey of Little North Fork, Oregon, and Samantha Stewart, of Portland; nephew Tanner Stewart, of Portland; and many other family and friends in Oregon and Alaska.
A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 29, at the Detroit Lake Community Center in Detroit Lake, Oregon. “We invite anyone who knew Sara to join us in sharing memories and celebrating her life,” the family wrote.
