Sarah Jane Yeats (Zahniser)
SOLOMONS — Sarah Jane Zahniser Yeats passed away peacefully at home on Wednesday, May 4, 2022, with her husband, Philip, and daughters by her side.
Sarah Jane Zahniser was born in Newark, NJ, on March 30, 1940, to Anna Lore Zahniser and Albert Wright Zahniser, Jr. While Sarah was still a baby, the family moved to Solomons, Maryland, where Anna’s parents lived. Solomons is on the Patuxent River, and, as Sarah grew up, she was often found boating on the river-first, in a small skiff with an inboard motor, and later, with a 15’ sailboat. She crabbed and fished and otherwise enjoyed the water when other activities did not interfere. During this period, she had a five-gaited horse which she kept near home and rode regularly. Sarah did many sewing projects as a member of a local 4-H Club. Her love of such handwork endured throughout her life.
Sarah attended Calvert County schools through the 10th grade and then completed high school at St. Mary’s Seminary, later St. Mary’s College. While at St. Mary’s, she developed an interest in anatomy and physiology, which led to her entering nurses training at Union Memorial Hospital, in Baltimore. After qualifying as a registered nurse, she worked in the Union Memorial accident room for a year. After the accident room experience, she and a friend from St. Mary’s took an extensive vacation in Europe. During that trip, in Regensburg, Germany, she met the young U.S. Army officer who would become her husband.
In January, 1964, she married Philip Lansdale Yeats at Middleham Chapel, in Lusby, Maryland, and began a succession of relocations so typical of Army life. She especially enjoyed assignments in Southern England and Brussels, Belgium. As a military wife, Sarah engaged in extensive volunteer work, such as Red Cross volunteer nurse and sponsor for visiting foreign military families. 1965 through 1970 saw the birth of three daughters to the Yeats family, Laura Hellen, Martha Tillman, and Clare Luce. In 1986, Philip retired from the Army, and the family moved to Lusby to a property on the Patuxent River, where Sarah lived for the rest of her life. Sarah was happy here, three miles north of where she grew up. She devoted herself first to the re- do of the old tenant house she and Philip bought and then to producing an interesting, well- conceived, environmentally compatible landscape on the property.
Sarah was a member of the Calvert Garden Club for more than 30 years. As a member, she held a number of leadership positions and, as president, helped to expand club membership and community involvement. For her continuing efforts, Sarah received the state level Perennial Bloom Award, an honor of which she was justifiably proud. She was a horticultural enthusiast her entire life. Sarah also loved antiques and shared shops in Dowel, Annapolis, Savage Mills, and Leonardtown for years. She was a member of Christ Church, of Port Republic, Maryland, and, until later years, enjoyed volunteering during the annual jousting tournament.
Sarah is survived by her husband of 58 years, Philip Lansdale Yeats, of Lusby, her three daughters, Laura Hellen Yeats McCanless ( Forrest), of Oxford Georgia, Martha Tillman Yeats, of Arlington Virginia, and Clare Luce Yeats Rothera (Matthew), of Lusby Maryland, and five grandchildren, Madeline Lore Yeats McCanless, Cameron Luce Yeats McCanless, Evelyn Darby Yeats McCanless, Eleanor Yeats Rothera, and Marcus Lore Rothera. She is also survived by her brother, Albert (Skip) Wright Zahniser, III, of St. Leonard.