Sarah Jeanne Lange

Sarah grew up in Niagara, Wis., and began attending school at 18 months old entering the TMH program under Marge Broderson until she was 21, graduating in 1998. She loved going to school and loved her classmates and especially loved performing in their annual Christmas concerts and attending their spring proms. She also participated in Special Olympics.

While in Niagara, Sarah was active in St. Anthony Catholic Church as an altar server. She was also in the chorus of Niagara’s community musical “Annie.” Upon graduating she worked at Wausaukee Enterprises. ? on year

She moved to Marinette, Wis., in 2014 and continued with Special Olympics as part of a very successful Relay Team and was very active in various community events.

She went to work for Goodwill Industries. She would take a cab to work at the local store where she would work folding and hanging clothes. She would then take a cab home and make herself dinner or a snack. She enjoyed feeling independent and making “her own” money that would invariably get spent at Claire’s Boutique in the mall.

In 2012 she moved to Albany, Wis., with her brother, Chris, and Brandon. She worked at the Sugar River General Store with her mom and brother serving ice cream and sub sandwiches to the people tubing the river during the summer. She especially loved working with all of the high school students employed there and would often work double shifts just to hang out and work with (i.e. entertain) them.

She learned how to do everything, from doing dishes to making sandwiches, flurries and cones … and loved cutting all of the bacon for the sandwiches. But let’s face it, her favorite part was flirting with all of the boys who came into the shop.

In 2019 she moved with her family to Ocala. Always a big swimmer, she was thrilled to learn that her new house had a pool and she spent hours in the pool nearly every day. She even learned how to snorkel. She loved going out to eat regularly and on the many shopping adventures with her mom and Nancy (Brandon’s mom).

A born performer and the true ‘ham’ of the family, Sarah loved music and especially loved to dance, earning her the nickname ‘Sarah Jeanne the Dancing Machine’ because she would dance from the moment the music started to the last note at every event. She didn’t even need a special event to dance and have fun. She would regularly crank up her favorite tunes and dance all over the house for hours on end.

Her other passion was karaoke. Her go-to song was ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ where she would change the lyrics to ‘One-Eyed Squirrel’ complete with hand motions. It always brought the house down!

For those who knew Sarah, and it seemed everyone did, she was always the center of attention and the ‘Belle of the Ball.’ A diva loaded with attitude until the end, she charmed everyone she came in contact with and was never shy about voicing her opinions, but that just endeared her to people even more.

The family would like to thank Shannon and the team at Gentiva Hospice and the staff at Prestige #1 for taking amazing care of Sarah over the past 18 months.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation to: The Wisconsin Singers: https://www.friendsofwisconsinsingers.com/donate, or to Marinette County Special Olympics: https://support.specialolympics.org/a/wisconsin.