Sara Ann 'Sally' Peabody Wagner, 91

Sara Ann “Sally” Peabody Wagner, 91, died March 30, 2022, at her home in Bigfork.

Born in 1930 in Washington, D.C., the youngest child of Dr. and Mrs. J. Winthrop Peabody, Sally graduated from Blessed Sacrament Grammar School in Chevy Chase, Maryland, and Georgetown Visitation Preparatory School in Washington, D.C.

In 1949, having completed one semester at Rosemont College in Pennsylvania, Sally accepted a very romantic marriage proposal from 2nd Lt. William Francis Wagner. After a Catholic marriage by proxy, Sally joined Bill at the U.S. Naval Base in Yokosuka, Japan, where they celebrated their nuptials. She was a devoted wife and proud mother of seven children, Christy, Gabriel, Susan, Katie, Tom, Joe and John. She returned to school later in life to complete her undergraduate degree (magna cum laude), two graduate degrees, and a teaching credential at California State University Northridge. For the next 20 years, she taught special education at Van Nuys High School in Los Angeles.

In April 1994, Sally and Bill retired to Bigfork where they indulged their lifelong passion for natural beauty by hiking the many trails in Glacier National Park, cross-country skiing and evening strolls along the River Walk. At their home in Bigfork, Sally and Bill hosted their beloved grandchildren with fun times: boating on Flathead Lake, inner tubing down the Flathead and Swan Rivers and hiking at Avalanche Lake and Logan’s Pass at Glacier National Park. They were active members of St. John Paul II Catholic Church where Sally taught religious education classes and participated in the Parish Prayer Line. When Bill passed away in 1996, Sally began volunteering at the Bigfork Art & Cultural Center, the Bigfork Center for Performing Arts and at the local nursing home. An avid genealogist, she researched and compiled, as a gift for her children, an extensive family history. As a devoted member of the Bigfork PEO chapter, she gave lectures on learning history through genealogy.

Sally was preceded in death by her husband, Bill, her youngest son, John, her sister, Naomi Peabody, and brother, Dr. J. Winthrop Peabody Jr.

She is survived by six children, 11 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren, and many close nieces and nephews. Beloved by her family, she is dearly missed.

Sally will be buried beside her husband at St. Andrew’s Benedictine Abbey in Valyermo, California.