Sally Ann Storer Warren, 77, of Rockford, Michigan, (formerly of Temperance, Michigan) shuffled off this mortal coil Saturday, December 8, 2018. On August 10, 1941, Sally was born to Helen (Jaster) and Charlie Storer.
Her earliest years were spent with her mother and grandparents during World War II. After her father returned from serving in the US Army, she and her parents lived on 5 acres in Bedford Township, where she spent time helping with farm chores, including feeding the chickens. She was known to say this was good training for raising children, which she likened to being pecked by chickens. She also learned piano and sang in her church youth choir, directed by her mom. She survived a bout with rheumatic fever in sixth grade, during which she lived for a time in Florida, which made her appreciate Michigan weather.
In elementary school, Sally met a boy, Eric, with whom she then went to middle school and high school and the first year of college. Even with occasional heated disagreements, they dated on and off, the quarterback and the cheerleader, and after graduating college, they married in 1963. Together, they moved to Gaylord and then Rockford for their teaching careers. They spent time traveling to car races across the country and spent a summer in Maine and a summer in Wyoming for additional schooling. Sally made friends wherever she went. An only child, she was determined that her own children would have siblings. Jennifer, Susan, and Sarah, as children, accompanied Sally and Eric on many a camping and theater adventure.
Later, Sally decided that traveling further afield was essential. She started with a hot air balloon ride and trips to the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, sharing time with friends and family. She visited the British Isles, China, Hawaii, continental Europe, and Alaska. When her grandchildren came along, she made a point of taking special trips with them including Disney World, a California road trip, a tour around Scandinavia as well as a bus trip to the Women’s March. Her passion for theater was not limited to attending productions wherever she happened to be. She encouraged her daughters to pursue their theatrical interests and even took acting classes herself in her 50s and directed plays for Rockford High School. She found great joy in her friends, the Ladies, with whom she shared travel, theater, family, and coffee time.
Sally’s perseverance and unwillingness to give in were evidenced in her later years as she faced a variety of physical and health challenges that gradually limited her mobility and often saw her dealing with pain and the mental stress that accompanies undiagnosable physical ailments. She did not hide her struggles, but faced them with determination and dignity and a willingness to laugh at her own foibles.
Sally’s influence, her inspiration, passion, and heart, will live on in her students from Gaylord, Rockford, and Cedar Springs as well as in her husband, Eric; her daughters, Jennifer, Susan, and Sarah; her sons-in-law, Tony, Kayle, and John; her grandchildren, Charlie and Gwendolyn; and her innumerable friends.
A Memorial Celebration of Life will be held at Pederson Funeral Home, 127 N. Monroe Street NE, Rockford, Michigan, on Friday, December 14, from 2:00 until 4:00 p.m. and from 6:00 until 8:00 p.m. Remembrance in her name to Habitat for Humanity or to your local food pantry would be appreciated.