Sally was born and raised in Woodstock, Virginia, the youngest of eight children of the late Warren Ballinger French and Lena Belle Sheetz French. Sally was a graduate of the Woodstock High School Class of 1953. She was 85.

Sally received her Bachelor of Science in Medical Technology from Mary Washington College of the University of Virginia in cooperation with the Medical College of Virginia. She worked as a medical technologist up until her retirement just last year, enjoying warm relationships with fellow staff and her patients. Sally took time off from work while raising her family of four girls, welcoming their friends, and volunteering for many organizations including the Girl Scouts, the Winnetka Children’s Theater, and the Winnetka Children’s Fair. Sally could also be found as part of the “kitchen witches” for the Winnetka Community House Antique Show and volunteered with Meals on Wheels, the Women’s Club of Winnetka, and the Crow Island PTA and Resale Shop. She was an active member of the Winnetka Presbyterian Church and a life member of the Chicago Botanic Garden….

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As a volunteer for 25 years, she has taught at Sunday school, led the choir, run the food bank, served the tea and — crucially — paid £50 a month by direct debit to keep the village church alive.

The congregation has shrunk to 25. The pressure is on those left to stump up the £30,000 that is required every year, through personal donations and fundraising, to pay for the upkeep of their church and the privilege of a vicar split between four other parishes.

So when the volunteer, who asked not to be named, heard that the Church of England intended to “prune” the clergy and recruit middle managers with elaborate titles and salaries of more than £50,000 to do some heavenly thinking on how to revive its flagging fortunes, there was anger in the ranks.

The church says that dwindling numbers and financial pressures leave it no choice but to abolish posts when clergy retire. It moves some vicars out of struggling parishes and into bigger communities, for example in inner cities or suburban housing estates where there may not have been a church before, in an effort to survive.

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“Clergy eased out as church puts its faith in managers.” From today’s Times. pic.twitter.com/TvVCJQB8G7

— Giles Fraser (@giles_fraser) February 6, 2021

Lord Jesus Christ, who by precept and example hast taught us that the greatest of all is the servant of all, and that the humble shall be exalted: Make us content to take the lowest place; and if it shall please thee to call us higher, do thou preserve within us a simple and lowly spirit; to thy great glory.

—Daily Prayer, Eric Milner-White and G. W. Briggs, eds. (London: Penguin Books 1959 edition of the 1941 original)

Sunrise at Market Lake by James Neeley! pic.twitter.com/ph34RTuxQK

— Aleksandar Mitrovic (@Aleksan52094351) February 6, 2021

Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption; but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we do not lose heart.

–Galatians 6:7-9

Good morning from Cape Cod National Seashore. This is my sunrise here in Forth Hill. #capecod #StormHour pic.twitter.com/UVjAKZkbpx

— Darius Aniunas (@dariusaniunas) February 6, 2021