Sara K. (Banks) Biggs

The family of Sara Kay Banks Biggs of Brooktondale, New York is saddened to announce her passing
on September 7 2023, one day short of her 88 th birthday. She is predeceased by her parents Evelyn May
Scott Banks and Francis Willard Banks, as well as her husband of 55 years Donald Anthony Biggs.
She will be lovingly remembered by her children Sheryl Albanese, Faith Biggs King, Donald Biggs,
Mary Biggs, and Sara Biggs Chaney. She is also survived by her grandchildren Mary Grace, Katie,
Aidan, Rory, Anthony, Rubin, Heike, and Goldali; her two great grandchildren Ennio and Aster; her
lifelong friend Lockie Beverage Bodager; her cousin Maxine Banks; and her beloved dog Monty.
Sara was born on September 8 1935 in Canton, Ohio. She was salutatorian of her high school class and
in 1957 graduated magna cum laude with a B.A in English from Bowling Green State University.
While working as assistant to the dean of students, Sara met Don Biggs whom she married in 1959. For
the next three decades, they raised their five children throughout the world, living in California,
Nebraska, Minnesota, and upstate New York, as well as the United Kingdom (Birmingham), Germany
(Frankfurt, Heidelberg, and Wiesbaden), Cyprus (Nicosia), and Indonesia (Bandung). Don’s
academic career would not have been possible without Sara’s unwaged labor: in addition to running a
household of five children, Sara edited Don’s manuscripts, typed and transcribed his research, and was
an intellectual peer. She also held a number of instructional and managerial positions throughout her
life, teaching French at UCLA and working as an administrator at Regina High School, SUNY
Albany, Nagle Law Office and the Albany County Historical Association.
Sara was an accomplished pianist and singer, and contributed to a number of choirs and small musical
ensembles. Her taste in music was eclectic, running from Debussy to Judy Garland to PJ Harvey and
she will be warmly remembered for her infectious singing, especially her renditions of “Ob‐La‐Di,
Ob‐La‐Da”, “My Blue Heaven” and the “Happy Hair Machine” – a Sara original. She took great pride
in her baking, and was renowned for her cookies, cakes, homemade ice cream and especially pies, often
signed with the letter S as an air vent. Intellectually curious, Sara was passionate about politics, history,
and linguistics; she collected and loved to discuss unusual etymologies, a hobby she had shared with
her father. She will be remembered for her dazzling smile, her generosity, her elegance, her meandering
and sweetly elliptical voicemails, her occasional (but always judicious) saltiness, and her distinctly
Midwestern idioms – heavens to Betsy and for crying in a bucket, grandma, mom, we miss you so
much but know you’re only a hop, skip and a jump away from us.
Services will be held at the Women’s Club of Albany, 725 Madison Avenue, Albany, New York on
Tuesday, September 26 from 11 AM to 1 PM, followed by a graveside service at St Agnes Cemetery at
2 PM for those who wish to attend. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to the Women’s Fund of Central Ohio.