Obituary of Sara Newton Carroll

Mrs. Sara Newton Carroll, a resident of Ozark, died Saturday, October 15, 2022 in Dale Medical Center. She was 96 years old. Funeral services for Mrs. Carroll will be 11:00 A.M. Tuesday, October 18, 2022, from the First Ozark United Methodist Church with Reverend Dr. Jason Thrower and Reverend Melanie S. Faust officiating. Interment will follow in Westview Memorial Cemetery, Holman Funeral Home of Ozark directing. The family will receive friends in the church Family Life Center Monday from 5:00 P.M. until 7:00 P.M. The younger daughter of Sara Owens Newton and William Franklin Newton, Jr, Mrs. Carroll was born July 7, 1926 at Moody Hospital in Dothan, Alabama. Her ancestors were among the earliest settlers of the Wiregrass area. She attended the University of Alabama for three years and was tapped for Alpha Lamda Delta Honorary. Later she graduated Summa Cum Laude from Troy University where she was chosen for Mortar Board. A former chairman of Choctawhatchee Regional Library Board, Dale County Mental Retardation Board, and a den mother with Cub Scouts, Mrs. Carroll was a Master Gardener, a former member of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival Board, and the Southern Writers Project. In 1992 she was appointed to the Foundation Board of Directors of Troy University. She was also a member of the Board of Stewards, First Methodist Church, Ozark, where she had served as organist, pianist and Sunday School teacher and later as assistant gardener. She enjoyed volunteer work at Ozark-Dale Library, at her church, and at Vivian B. Adams School. In 1975 she received the Alabama State Library Association non-fiction state award for her book, “ The Search: a Biography of Leo Tolstoy”, published by Harper and Row, New York. On December 10, 1973 she was honored by City of Ozark for her work as an author. On October 10, 2015 Dale County Chapter of the National Alumni of the University of Alabama named an endowed scholarship for Sara and her husband Kells. For many years she tutored adult students, first as a volunteer, and later on the staff of Enterprise Junior College/ Ozark Housing Authority Literacy Program. Mrs. Carroll was predeceased by her husband of 59 years, Kells Chilton Carroll, her son, Kells Chilton Carroll Jr., her grandson Franklin Newton Carroll Jr., her parents and her sister, Marguerite Sullivan. She is survived by her son Franklin Newton Carroll and his wife Sheryl Thrun Carroll, who have always been wonderful to her; three dear granddaughters, Amanda Helen Carroll Reed and her husband Shawn Brian Reed, Sara Beth Carroll Beadles and her husband Ryan Jonathan Beadles, and Anna Maurine Carroll; two grandsons: Kells Chilton Carroll III, and his wife Elizabeth Smith Carroll and Casey Lyle Carroll and his wife Mary Jacque Carmichael Carroll; great grandsons: Kells Brayden Carroll, Carson Hill Carroll, David Smith Carroll, Raiford Jameson Beadles, and Julian Bennett Beadles; two great granddaughters, Annie Peacock Carroll, and Grace Elizabeth Carroll; a daughter-in-law Suzanne Carroll Butts, and special nieces, Sara Sullivan Wiggins, Maurine Matthews Johnston, Lottie Carroll Brauer and Brandy Hilboldt Allport; and special cousin, Celeste Carmichael Hart. Many other beloved nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends survive her. Mrs. Carroll was devoted to her family and friends, and with faith in her Lord, to her church. The omission of flowers is requested. It is humbly suggested that memorials may be made to First Ozark United Methodist Church, 167 East Broad Street, Ozark, Alabama 36360; to Vivian B. Adams School; or to the Ozark-Dale Library, 289 North Union Avenue, Ozark, Alabama 36360; or to any church or charity.