Sarah Jane Nunn, 74, passed away peacefully early in the afternoon on October 11, 2015.
Sarah was born in Leavenworth, Kansas to Ralph and Ottilia Heintzelman. She learned her work ethic early by helping her Dad and brothers on the farm. She enjoyed gardening and planting flowers and her green thumb was evident both inside and outside her home. Her gardens, flowerbeds and gorgeous lawn were known by all, tended by a Master Gardner. She was a hard worker and passionate about giving to others, her faith and her family.
Sarah graduated from Immaculata High School and after completion she worked for the Department of Defense and traveled Europe. Upon returning to Leavenworth she met the love of her life LTC David H. Nunn and they married in 1971. Retiring from the US Army, they settled in Leavenworth and started their family raising two beautiful children, David and Melanie. She was the consummate mother and homemaker who loved to sew, knit, embroider, cook, can, and make jam. Sarah was an excellent cook and enjoyed preparing meals for friends and families – she could feed an Army. She could also outfit an Army being a master seamstress and keeping her children and grandchildren well kept. She also had a talent for shopping, one which she has passed onto her children. In addition to raising two children, Sarah worked in banking and insurance. Most recently she worked at AAA in Helena, MT as an Insurance Systems Coordinator and loved her AAA Family. She loved to travel, whether chasing her grandsons from one ball diamond to another or chasing her kids from one Army post to another.
Sarah is a member of St. Mary Catholic Community and was preceded in death by her husband in 2008. In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by her brothers Edward (Theresa) Heintzelman and Michael Heintzeleman. She is survived by her sisters Irene (Fred) Frey and Mary Ann (Howard) Kennedy and sister-in-law Mary Heintzelman. She is also survived by her daughter Melanie and Tony Aguto, son David and Angela Nunn and her three Grandchildren whom she adored; Xavier, Micah & Asher Nunn, in addition to six beautiful grand dogs. Sarah also leaves behind numerous loving relatives and dear friends. She was the most giving and thoughtful Mom, Grandma, Aunt, Sister and Friend. She would do anything for anyone and put them above herself. Anyone that knew her was blessed to be part of her life. Her greatest joy in life was being a wife, mother and grandmother.
A vigil service will be 5:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 14th at St. Mary Catholic Community, 1700 Missoula Avenue, Helena. Mass will be 12:10 p.m. Thursday, October 15th at Saint Mary Catholic Community with a reception immediately following the service. A private family burial will be held at a later date at the Montana State Veterans Cemetery, Fort Harrison. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be sent in her name Lewis & Clark Humane Society, P.O. Box 4455, Helena, MT 59604. Please below to offer a condolence to the family or to share a memory of Sarah.
Service Schedule
Vigil
5:00 p.m.
Wednesday October 14, 2015
St. Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Avenue
Helena, Montana 59601
Funeral Mass
12:10 p.m.
Thursday October 15, 2015
St. Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Avenue
Helena, Montana 59601
Reception
Following Mass
Thursday October 15, 2015
St. Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Avenue
Helena , Montana 59601
Rite of Committal
At a Later Date
Montana State Veterans Cemetery
Heores Rd.
Ft. Harrison, Montana
Service Schedule
Vigil
5:00 p.m.
Wednesday October 14, 2015
St. Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Avenue
Helena, Montana 59601
Funeral Mass
12:10 p.m.
Thursday October 15, 2015
St. Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Avenue
Helena, Montana 59601
Reception
Following Mass
Thursday October 15, 2015
St. Mary Catholic Community
1700 Missoula Avenue
Helena , Montana 59601
Rite of Committal
At a Later Date
Montana State Veterans Cemetery
Heores Rd.
Ft. Harrison, Montana
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Thomas McArdle says
To The Family of Sarah Nunn:
Sarah was a dear friend of mine, so it is with much sadness and shock that I write to you. I worked with Sarah for many years at AAA, and kept in close contact after I left. I am so sorry that I could not attend the services, I was stuck out of town and unable to return to Helena in time. If possible, and appropriate; it would be my pleasure to still sit down with Melanie, and David and any other family in the near future.
Either way, I’d like to share some thoughts here from my perspective as a work colleague, and a friend, for what its worth.
I first met Sarah when I started at AAA MTW in January of 2006. She was the customer service representative for the Helena branch of the insurance agency, and I had just been hired as the agency manager for the club. Yeah, I liked her immediately. Although she took pains to not draw attention to herself, unfortunately for her; being incredibly sharp of mind, with considerable professional expertise in insurance, integrity and character, and of course, always early to work, and last to leave; she stood out immediately. I needed her help desperately to figure out, and solve a myriad of problems at the agency. She really didn’t want more responsibility, but she also had a military sense of duty that when you are called upon to help, help you must. Over the course of time I was able to promote her to a key operational position serving the whole agency. While she was the best customer service rep compared to her counterparts at all 7 branches of the agency, we really needed her to oversee the whole agency’s book of business, agent commissions, and financial reporting. And most importantly for my own career success, what I needed was for Sarah to report to me directly. She had so many skills in abundance, skills I lacked. She was organized, focused, detail oriented, and understood that the only way to do anything was to do it right. For example, one of the challenges I found when I arrived at AAA was that the agent commission statements were wrong. Before Sarah was put in her key role, every payroll period my phone would light up with agents complaining that they were paid incorrectly – no small problem. While this was in many cases true, their paychecks had been calculated wrong, it also became apparent that agents were also cheating the system. All this stopped immediately once Sarah took over the issue. It also quickly became the mantra among the agents “don’t mess with Sarah”. Not because she was mean, of course she was kind and understanding, the reason you didn’t mess with Sarah (question your check, or cheat the system) was very simple: Sarah was correct. Of the thousands of customers we had, and hundreds of new policies sold each month, and existing policies cancelling each month, I am not aware of Sarah ever making a mistake. She’d be the first to question herself, and ask for a second opinion if there was an issue, but she was always, always right!
Far more important than the business side of things was her personal friendship. She was always there for me when I had personal challenges, or suffered from the stress of the job. She was so even keeled, selfless, what can I say, she was my rock at that place. The first to ask about my daughter, my wife, my mom; I’ve just never worked with someone who simply did everything they were tasked to do, never complained, and then stopped so regularly to inquire, “how are you?”. There’s the” how are you?” meant as a rhetorical expression, how most people mean it, and then there’s “how are you?” meant in the most serious and genuine manner there is, when Sarah asks “how are you?” She really means “HOW ARE YOU?” Like, for real, how are you? I will never forget that, and I try to emulate that attitude when I ask someone how they are.
And, she would talk about her kids, and daughter and son in law, and of course her grand kids, and just light up. All moms love their kids, and grand kids; but there’s a special militant breed of motherly love, a mom, and grandma who in many ways simply lives for their family, and whose planetary existence and whole core is totally and completely devoted to their family, and that was Sarah, no doubt. Obviously you already know this, but worth noting, it was such a big part of the core of Sarah.
And then I left AAA, one of the major losses being that I would no longer get to see Sarah every day and work with her. But, true to form, I did hear from her pretty regularly. Mail, the unimportant mail that didn’t need to go to my replacement, continued to arrive at the AAA offices addressed to me. Sarah would dutifully put it in a new envelope, addressed to my home, and always, always with a handwritten note from her asking how I was doing, and sending best wishes to my family. My loss is so minor compared to yours, but I cherished that and so appreciated that. Its so sad to me that I can no longer look forward to that. Junk mail, with a note from Sarah that made it not junk mail, but a connection we could maintain. She would remind me to renew my insurance license when it was coming due, and forward CE credit opportunities in town. And if I was ever having a rough day, or feeling sorry for myself, or just wanted to call someone who I knew would be genuinely happy to hear from me no matter what, I’d call Sarah. “Thomas! How are you?”
My condolences, I am so sad for your loss, and so grateful to have known her. I got to see her at a brewers game a month ago, and so glad we were able to share our current lives, and catch up. I will miss her, and if there is anything I can do for you, just ask.
Thomas McArdle
Cell: 406-461-7278