Sarah ("Sally") B. Wilkins

Sarah (“Sally”) Mitchell Blatz Wilkins, 85, of Sherborn, MA, passed away peacefully after a lengthy illness on January 3, 2024.

Born in Philadelphia, PA on March 19, 1938, Sally was the beloved daughter of the late Rev. Dr. Frederick W. Blatz of Hastings-on-Hudson, NY, and the late Janet Mitchell Cox Blatz of Scottsville, NY.  She is survived by her loving husband of 63 years, George Franklin Wilkins, Jr. of Sherborn, MA, her daughters Anne Mitchell Wilkins (Michael Case) of Norwalk, CT, Susan Franklin Wilkins (Andrew Ferren) of Westwood, MA, and Carolyn Holton Wilkins (Michael Farber) of Concord, MA. She was the beloved grandmother to Matthew Wilkins Ferren and Megan Wilkins Ferren of Washington, D.C., Jack Wilkins Farber of Burlington, VT and Claire Cox Farber of Seattle, WA. She is lovingly remembered by her sister Susan Lewis Blatz of Scottsville, NY, and her brother Frederick W. Blatz III (Beverly F. Blatz) of Sudbury, MA.

Sally grew up in Philadelphia as the eldest daughter of the Rector for the historic St. Peter’s Church in Philadelphia, where her mother served as Deaconess.  She was encouraged to be an independent young lady and navigated the city’s trolley system herself on daily trips to school before she was ten years old.  Sally and her family later moved to Westfield, New Jersey where she developed a love of music, took piano lessons, and joined the high school choir, but focused on academics in order to attend a prestigious college.

In spite of the passing of her beloved mother during her junior year of high school, Sally graduated from Westfield High School and went on to attend Wellesley College (Class of 1959), majoring in economics. Sally’s time at Wellesley was transformative. In addition to meeting the love of her life – her husband George (Harvard College, Class of 1959) - and making lifelong friends, Sally found that the all-female school set a foundation for a life of leadership and empowering other women to accomplish great things. 

Married in 1960, Sally & George relocated to Kaiserslautern, Germany while George was stationed with the U.S. Army.  Their first child Anne was born, and even as new parents,  they traveled extensively to many European destinations. After returning to the U.S. in 1963, Sally & George ultimately settled in Sherborn, MA, calling it home for more than 50 years.

Always a trailblazer, Sally earned her MBA from Babson College in 1980 at a time when few women were pursuing this degree, taking classes at night while working in marketing during the day and raising her family.  She later transitioned to the investment advisory field,  earned her CFP designation and spent the next 30 years building her business, specializing in retirement and strategic financial planning and wealth management. Sally prided herself on supporting all of her clients with integrity and professionalism and was especially pleased to work with her female clients, many of whom were Wellesley alumni, in successfully charting their financial futures.

Sally was also active in various town organizations including chairing the Sherborn Library Board of Trustees and serving in town government. She performed with the Sherborn Music Makers and continued studying classical music for most of her life.    She was a talented knitter, became certified in scuba diving to accompany George, and turned into a pilates devotee.  She planned six trips to Switzerland, her favorite destination, and at age 70 finished the Danskin Sprint Triathlon alongside her two proud daughters Susan and Carolyn.  She organized “Girls Weekends” for the female members of the family and could reliably be found in front of the NYT crossword puzzle each week.  Sally and her family spent wonderful times at a second home in Plymouth, VT, always including the family labradors for a romp in the beautiful mountain setting she loved. Her wonderful sense of humor, kindness and zest for life are warmly remembered by those who knew her.

A funeral service will be held at the John Everett & Sons Funeral Home, 4 Park St., Natick Common on Saturday, February 3, 2024, at 11:00 am. Visiting hours will be held from 10 to 11 am. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend. The interment will be private. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that any donations be made in Sally’s name to the Alzheimer’s Association at www.alz.org.

For directions and online guestbook, friends are invited to visit http://everettfuneral.com

PLEASE VISIT HARBORVIEW.LIVE TO WATCH THE LIVESTREAM OF SALLY'S FUNERAL SERVICE SATURDAY FEBRUARY 3, 2024 11:00 AM: 

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