Anne Hill Sager, 82
Anne Hill Sager, 82, passed away in Houston on Jan. 13, 2018.
She was born on Dec. 1, 1935, in Laramie, Wyoming to Ross Hill and Florence Anne (Williams) Hill.
Anne’s father, Ross, a newly graduated University of Wyoming engineer, got a commission with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the little family went off to Fort Peck, Montana, to build the dam; Vicksburg, Mississippi, to build the levees; Dayton, Ohio, to build Wright-Patterson Air Force Base; and Omaha, Nebraska, to design locomotives. World War II had Ross assigned to the Manhattan Project, with Anne, her mother and sister Barbara back in Laramie, with her paternal grandparents Dean John Hill and Evelyn (Corthell) Hill.
After the war Anne went with her mother, sister and stepfather Claude Beasley (also Army) to join the U.S. Army of Occupation in Germany to help rebuild that country. Anne loved her time in Germany. She became fairly fluent in German and could still speak some years later. After the tour in Germany they returned to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and her maternal grandparents Sterling A. and Berta (Williams) Case, where Anne went to high school. She attended Monticello College in Alton, Illinois, for a year and transferred to George Washington University in Washington, D.C., where her stepfather was then assigned. It was there in Washington where she met and married Lt.(jg) Harry Sager USNR and a new life began in 1954.
Harry completed his Naval career early in 1955 and the newlyweds packed up their stuff, got in their old Buick and set off to busy Houston to find a job. The job turned out to be in Wyoming with Conoco for the start of what turned out to be a 37-year adventure in six states and two foreign countries. Luckily, Anne brought with her a wonderful talent for making a home wherever she was and for however short a time. She used to say that her mother taught her that lesson number one, in a new place, was to cultivate a local butcher and an auto repair mechanic. Anne did that and went on to make friends with everyone in sight wherever she was. Her ability to live happily and productively wherever she landed should get a large measure of the credit for whatever success she and her husband had in business and in life, a wonderful asset.
In addition to everything else, the center of Anne’s thoughts and endeavors was always their son, John, who was a Down’s child and is now a productive 54-year-old citizen. Education and development opportunities for John were always a very high priority. She applied her considerable energetic leadership skills to assuring a proper place for John everywhere, from the oil company school in Dubai to the establishment of a facility called the Paddington Integration Project in London, which served to ease the transition of special needs children from a mainstream education setting to a safe and productive existence beyond school. On moving back to Houston, John became a “citizen” of the, then, new Brookwood Community and Anne poured her heart and soul into helping Brookwood succeed.
When they retired from Conoco in 1992, Anne and Harry turned their attention to a piece of paradise on Montana’s Flathead Lake that had been in the family for some years. Anne, having been active in the Royal Horticulture Society in London, took particular interest in beautifying the Montana site with splendid results as all who have visited there can testify.
Anne is survived by her dearly beloved husband Harry, her daughter Elizabeth Sager Yates, her son John, her grandson Eric Yates, and her sisters, Barbara Hill Bowers, Gail Hill Mehle and Lynn Hill.
In accordance with Anne’s wishes there will be no special services. In lieu of flowers, and knowing how much she cared about her many and varied charities, donations are encouraged for: The Brookwood Community, 1452 FM 1489, Brookshire, TX 77423, brookwoodcommunity.org; The Lighthouse Christian Home, 384 North Somers Road, Kalispell, MT 59901, lighthousechristianhome.org; or the charity of your choice.