Sarah Marcelie Major Walker, born on July 28, 1931, to the late Mahalis Jinkins and George T. Major, was reared on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and educated in Northampton County Public Schools.

Mrs. Sarah, as she was fondly called by her friends and family in the New Road neighborhood that she called home, was simply called “Gramma” by her grandchildren.

Mrs. Sarah married the love of her life, the late Herman Lee Walker Sr., in 1947. Being a wife in those times was not always easy, but she carried it with grace.

Mrs. Sarah started working at a young age, taking odd jobs until she found steady work at the local shirt factory as a cutter in the cutting room in the mid-1950s, where she remained for over a decade. Sarah later made her way to Holley Farms in 1968, which later became Tyson Foods in 1989. She retired a few years afterward.

In her spare time, in her words, “I had no spare time.” She enjoyed cooking and baking her famous yeast rolls. She loved gardening; her garden was her happy place, and her white linen hanging on her clothesline was her pride and joy. Mrs. Sarah loved God, her church, and serving as an usher at New Mount Calvary Baptist Church. She would always say, “The church pews are going to be full with the people who belong to me,” with a proud smile on her face.

“I worked hard to take care of my babies; I was a mother of 8,” she told many people she encountered. To her, her family was her greatest accomplishment.

A mother should never have to bury her child. She was predeceased by her sons, George Walker, Sylvester Ronald Walker, and Herman Lee Walker Jr.

She leaves to cherish her memory: Jerry Walker (Cindy) of Caneyville, Kentucky; Fred Lawrence Walker of Exmore; Burley W. Walker of Exmore; Harold Walker of Hampton, Virginia; and her only daughter, Gloria Wilcox of Exmore.

Being a mother did not end with her children. Sarah was a grandmother of 21 and, of those, “she practically raised one as her own,” Yolonda V. Edmonds (Thomas) of Silver Beach, Virginia, who cared for her in her last days. She was a great-grandmother of 60, a great-great-grandmother of 31, and a great-great-great-grandmother of 1.

She also leaves a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, friends, and one goddaughter, Joanne Wescott.

A close friend, neighbor, and caregiver who was at her side until the very end, Ms. Carolyn Smith — we thank you for the care, patience, and most of all, the love shown to our beloved mother and grandmother.

Sarah loved her family with every fiber of her being. She never used the words “goodbye” or “see you later.” She would only say, “Come see me again, don’t wait until my head is cold.”

She was loved by us all.