Dates
Sally Owens Lehr passed away from this life on November 7, 2026, at the age of 94. Sally was born March 15, 1932, near Longworth, TX in Fisher County, she was a seventh-generation descendant of Edward Jackson, an American Revolutionary War patriot from South Carolina. Her parents were Fay Smith Owens and Winfred D. Owens of Fisher County, where both her fraternal and maternal grandparents were pioneer farmers.
From 1940 until 1945, her family lived in the Fort Worth area. At the conclusion of WW II, they moved to Abilene where she graduated from Abilene High School in 1949. In 1952 she graduated from McMurry College (now McMurry University) with honors and in 1969 she completed a Master of Education Degree from Abilene Christian University.
On June 5,1952 she married Michael Lehr and from this union three children were born: Richard Paul, Michael Alan, and Susan Elizabeth.
Her career included teaching in Christoval, Wall, and San Angelo, retiring as Director of Elementary Instruction for SAISD. Some of her interesting school related experiences were presenting at an International Reading Association Conference in Toronto, attending a symposium in Washington D. C. on Two Hundred Years of the American Presidency, and visiting and studying European educational institutions, philosophy, techniques, and methodology. As a result of her visit to Mount Vernon and her study of George Washington, she developed a characterization of Martha Washington, complete with costume, and visited fifth grade classrooms to help make history come alive to school children. Another project during her SAISD years was to visit classrooms and invite the children to write what they had learned about life in one or two brief sentences. These were gathered and made into books which were then shared with the classrooms, the school board, and the administration. Some were funny, some were sad, all were insightful. She considered her greatest accomplishment to be teaching a classroom of first grade students to read. (If you do not think that is something to be proud of, just try it!) She was enormously proud of her long association with SAISD and always considered those with whom she worked her extended family. Sally was a fantastic cook but on the rare occasion she would have a failure; she was encouraged by her children to share the dish with her co-workers!
After retirement, she wrote, collected, and put together a 200-page book detailing the Smith-Baxter family history which includes information back to 1680.
Sally had many interests outside of her professional career. These included travel, reading, gardening, scrap booking, and making handcrafted greeting cards to send to friends and those on the prayer list from her church. She gave book reviews, participated in Bible study, and played bridge.
After Michael left and Richard and Margaret married in 1971, a favorite vacation occurred in the summer of 1972 when Sally, Alan and Susan, joined by Cliff, Dot, and Jan Hohensee, dear family friends, journeyed to Montana to see Lehr family friends and Hohensee relatives. The destinations were Kalispell and Whitefish, Montana. This vacation had the families traveling in total through seven states, returning an entirely different way than when they left for Montana. The travelers visited the Royal Gorge, Grand Tetons, stepped their feet into Canada for a bit, Glacier National Park, Salt Lake City, Grand Canyons, Santa Fe, NM, Juarez, Mexico and finally Wall, TX!
Her other trips always had a particular focus. In addition to the European educational survey course, she studied classical Greece, Renaissance Italy, the music of Austria and Germany, and British authors. A special treat was visiting the home of Beatrix Potter and bringing back a Peter Rabbit tea set for tea parties with her grandchildren. One of her favorite overseas trips was a walking tour of the Cotswolds, England.
Sally's other U.S. trips included art museums and galleries of Washington D. C. and New York City, an American history pilgrimage including the Gettysburg Battlefield; homes of American authors; Broadway productions; and a fall foliage tour. But her most meaningful times were spent with her children, spouses, and grandchildren. She loved reading to her children when they were young - favorites being The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, then later she loved reading to the grandchildren.
In April of 2002 she participated in the Walk to Emmaus program and found a great blessing in doing so. She took an active part in church life at St. Ambrose Catholic Church by serving as a Eucharistic Minister, as a Lector, and for three years as one of the leaders of the RCIA program (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). In September 2003 she gave the initial talk at St. Ambrose's Renewal Program.
Sally was a member of the Pocahontas Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution, a life member of the Texas State Teachers Association; a member of the San Angelo Retired Teachers Association; a member of Reader's P.S.; and a Habitat for Humanity sponsor for three families to get new homes, and one of Habitat's "One Hundred Women Build" in 2015, providing a new home for a family.Together with a few other friends, a dinner club was formed under the name of The Iron Buttercups-a West Texas version of Steel Magnolias. This is a group, all friends for many, many years, who shared heartaches and joys together. Each year the Buttercups select a college student to assist with school expenses, seeing them through to graduation.
In 2010 she coordinated the centennial celebration of the founding of the Pocahontas Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution. Sally researched, collected, and compiled a book entitled A Century of Memories-My DAR Scrapbook. The sale of this book helped defray the cost of the celebration which was attended by members and dignitaries from across the state.
In her later years she enjoyed collecting vintage costume jewelry, spending hours researching, reading, and learning the history of costume jewelry in America. She also took up clog dancing for its fitness benefits and sometimes participated in programs at senior centers, etc. (if she could be in the back row). She especially appreciated Betty Saldivar for teaching the class of "geriatric cloggers," perhaps she is dancing "Louisiana Saturday Night" right now!
Sally was preceded in death by her parents, Fay, and W. D. Owens, by a brother, John Kenneth Owens, and by a grandson, John Richard Lehr. She is survived by her children and their spouses, Richard and Margaret Lehr, and Alan and Jackie Lehr, all of Odessa; and Susan and Dwain Gober of San Angelo; and by grandchildren Ellen Lehr Smith and husband Shawn of Odessa, Grant Lehr and wife Kelan, of Temple, TX, Will Gober of San Angelo, Abby Gober Guedry and husband Grant of Dallas, and great grandchildren, Finley Kyle Smith of Odessa, Case Alan Lehr of Temple, and very soon Case will have a new baby brother or sister. Throughout her life she enjoyed close and meaningful relationships with her many first cousins. Those left to cherish her memory are Nancy Jennings, Terry Smith, and John Burgess.
Born in the depths of the Great Depression, she vividly recalled Pearl Harbor, then D-day and finally the end of the war; and all the ensuing turmoil and violence of the 20th century including civil unrest and political assassinations, the Vietnam tragedy, the terrible events of September 11, 2001, and the never-ending war on terrorism. Through it all, she maintained her faith in the essential goodness of humankind. Our mother would like to be remembered as one who loved the Lord, her family, friends, her country, the beauty of nature, and life itself - and indeed she did – the gifts of character and fortitude she instilled in her children and grandchildren will live on through each one.
A funeral mass will be conducted at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Wall, Texas on Saturday, November 14 at 11:00 a.m. with burial and lunch to follow. In lieu of flowers the family asks donations to be given to Meals For The Elderly, Catholic Outreach Services or any entity supporting public education.
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of the Lord stands forever. Isaiah 40:8
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13