ARVONIA, March 3 – Sarah Lanford Yancey Thomas, 92, of Arvonia, died Thursday, February 26, 2009 in Gainesville, FL.

She was born April 4, 1916 at River's Edge Farm, Palmyra, to the late Oscar Russell Lanford and Eva Maude Terrell. She was preceded in death by her first husband, Thomas Aubrey Yancey Sr., her second husband, Overton Snead Thomas, and her brothers, Jack Lanford and Allen Archer Lanford.

Sarah attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and Mary Washington College. She was a member of Bethel Baptist Church. Sarah was an accomplished musician and piano teacher. She was a founding member and past president of the Buckingham County Women's Club and a member of the Fork Union-Point of Fork Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. She retired from the Thomas Jefferson Foundation after 20 years of service as a tour hostess at Monticello.

She is survived by two sons, Thomas Aubrey Yancey Jr. and wife, Dayne of Frazier Park, CA and William Allen Yancey and wife, Carolyn of Duck, NC; a daughter, Evalyn Yancey Lipoff and husband, Scott of Gainesville, FL; six grandchildren, Holly Stout, Colleen Stidham, Michael Yancey, Lauren Yancey, Russell Lipoff, and Jack Lipoff; six great-grandchildren, William Stout, Turner Stout, Laura Stidham, Taylor Stidham, Isabella Yancey, and Aiden Yancey; along with eight nieces and nephews.

A memorial service and celebration of Sarah's life will be held at Bethel Baptist Church, Palmyra, at a later date.

Memorial contributions may be made to Bethel Baptist Church or the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, P.O. Box 217, Charlottesville, Virginia, 22902.

Arrangements are under the care of Williams-Thomas Westarea Funeral Home, Gainesville/Newberry, FL.