- Date Of Birth: August 19, 1938
- Date Of Death: December 14, 2018
- State: Colorado
Sarah Anne Vigil, 80, was born August 19th, 1938 in Denver, Colorado. She died Friday, December 14, 2018.
Sarah is survived by two sisters, Sharon Leigh Routa and Stephanae Cynthia Mendez, aunt Jean McKain and uncle Ernest Vigil who were raised with Sarah as siblings. Also survived by numerous nieces, nephews and cousins who were an active part of Sarah’s life. Mother Ida Smith and grandparents John and Sarah Vigil preceded her in death. She is also preceded in death by her cousin that was raised as her brother, Richard Thompson.
She attended Sacred Heart grade school and Annunciation high school, at that time both schools were located in the inner-city Denver area. After graduation Sarah left home for Cincinnati and was a Roman Catholic nun with the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati order for over 25 years. In that time she received a bachelor degree in education from the college of Mount St. Joseph’s and a master’s degree in education and theology from St. John College. Every summer she attended college courses to increase her knowledge of the education system. Teaching was her chosen profession, an interest dating back to sixth grade when she taught religion classes. Besides being a junior high math teacher in Cleveland at Patrick Henry Junior high she was drawn to work as a pastoral counselor to drug offenders from Cuyahoga County. Her work caught the attention of the former county commissioner and he asked her to serve on the Public Defenders Commission, this lead to her shift from counseling offenders to aiding victims. Memories of domestic violence victims and their children remained particularly vivid to her.
In 1980 she was appointed to the Regional Transit Authority board of trustees In Cleveland where she served a three-year term. Many observers saw her appointment as a mixed blessing, she was one of a few trustees who rode the bus and did know what was going on with the riding public and the working people of RTA. But she was a thorn in the side of RTA management, frequently taking executives to tasks in areas such as travel, the use of consultants and other areas where they had not been previously questioned. Sarah was not reappointed to fourth term.
In 2006 Sarah retired from a successful and well lived life in Cleveland. On her return home to Colorado, her home already purchased on the same block as her sister Sharon she began a much quieter lifestyle In Littleton.
